Inheritance:Book 3
by alleycatabra
Summary: My take on what i think book 3 should be. Oc in here but i think i managed to steer away from cliche stereotypes. Please R&R. Not mine, not making money.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do not Own, Not making money. And no the oc does not qualify as mary-sue. The oc would kill all mary-sues and turn them into mary-sue pate. But that's my opinion.

The Dragon Queen

Eragon woke up the next morning to find his cousin/brother asleep on the ground next to him. He was glad to have Roran back even if he was angry at him. He couldn't blame him for being mad; it was his fault that he had allowed Garrow to die. If not for him Caravahall would still be whole, Quimby and others would be alive and Roran would not have had to turn fugitive because of the empire.

_What have I done? This world needs a hero and I can't even save my own village._ He buried his face in his hands, and tried to stop the inevitable tears from forming. Saphira stuck her snout in the tent and looked at him with her clear blue eyes.

_Do not blame yourself little one. It was not your choices alone. As_ _I recall the King, the shades as well as the Ra'zacs all have free will. They choose to bring disaster and pain, you choose to oppose them. Had you no spirit to oppose them I would not have chosen you. _Saphira said this in such a plain matter of fact way that Eragon could not dispute it. He still blamed himself for all that happened but he could not help but feel that he was not alone in the blame. That was when he felt something approaching. It was large and powerful. He could sense nothing more than that from the intruder, besides a feeling of freedom. He rushed outside of his tent to meet whatever it was, ready for both war and welcome. He felt Saphira close behind him, he was grateful for her presence. Then he felt/heard something. A steady thump, a whirring, so loud it was difficult to tell the direction it originated from. Eragon looked all over the land and saw nothing. Then the sun was blocked out, and Eragon looked up with a feeling of dread as his fears were confirmed and a large Dragon began to descend from the sky. The archers all reacted quickly and sent several volleys after the dragon. Eragon could not tell it's colour from where he was only that it was dark and since the king and his brother both had dark dragons he prepared to fight as did Saphira. He leapt onto her back, in his haste he forgot about her saddle and was prepared to take to the skies when the volley of arrows the archers had short returned to bury their stone heads deep in the ground. Shortly after the arrows had been returned to them in such a manner the dragon began its final descent. Saphira coiled herself and prepared to launch herself at the intruder when everything seemed to freeze. The only thing anyone on the ground appeared able to move was their heads. He turned his head to find Arya concentrating furiously on breaking the spell on herself and having no luck. The same was true with all the other magic users. Even he was unable to break through the enchantment.

_Well that decides it then, only the king could cast a spell of this size on so many and not kill himself with the drain. We are all goners._

_I will fight him and die before he captures me!_

_I agree with that Saphira, we may die, but the king will know that he fought a rider._

They waited in furious silence as the dragon descended towards them. He glared up defiantly and saw the beginning of the dragons colour.

_It's Green! This dragon is a dark green. So who is it?_

_We shall see shortly little one._

They waited, now halfway between dread and hopeful curiosity, as the dragon landed. It was larger than Saphira; it was larger than Oromis' small home. It was still not nearly as big a Glaedr. So it was several years to at least a decade old then. He could still not make out anything of the rider save that he was wearing a long concealing hooded cloak made out of some kind of animal hide. As the Dragon landed the rider jumped out and landed with an unearthly grace and strode purposefully with long powerful ground eating strides to the center of the camp, his black hood effectively hiding his face as he turned to look directly at each person frozen in time and action by his spell. His voice rang out then, it was difficult to place the accent but his soft tenor was speaking the words of the ancient language to all who could hear.

"I am both rider and friend and I mean you no harm. I would however advise against further attempts on my life in the future as I do not give more than one warning." The hooded figure stepped forward and addressed Eragon. "I see that you are also a Rider, may I have your name?"

Arya gasped, it was considered highly rude and improper for anyone to ask someone their name in the ancient language. Eragon felt the spell lift as the stranger made a small hand gesture and waited patiently for his reply. Arya walked up to him quickly and whispered her misgivings to him.

"You cannot give him your name; we know nothing about him save that he has a dragon, and that he is powerful. He could be working for Galbatorix and mean to use it to capture you!"

The stranger laughed, it was a strange haunting primal laugh that sent shivers down his spine and made him and everyone else shudder with so many different feelings that it was impossible to single one out.

"Foolish elf Svit-kona, if I had wanted his true name I could have gotten it easily. I only speak in the ancient language because it is the only one I have some assurances of being perfectly understood in. I only want the name his mother gave him and everyone else uses. And as for me using such means of capture, do you truly believe that I would need to?"

Eragon and Arya looked at each other, realising that the stranger spoke true. He had done something unheard of, a long lasting spell that had frozen several thousand people in place for a long period of time and was impossible to break, all without breaking a sweat. His dragon also bore no signs of fatigue that would accompany such a spell so it seemed unlikely that he had tapped deeply into his store of magic. Eragon thought for a moment, if he refused this riders' friendship would the varden survive it? Could they afford to not have him on their side? Cautiously he reached his hand forward to him.

"I am called Eragon Shadeslayer."

The rider took his hand and began to lower his hood as he said "I am called many things where I am from but most call me Sahkur-Rah." The rider's hood was down, finally revealing his face. Eragon saw first the two large Onyx eyes and the fine features, not streamlined and feline like an elf's and yet not crude and rugged like a human, and certainly not dwarfish. The hair was of a rich dark blond, tied back from the face effectively hiding the ears. There was a fierce intelligence in the eyes and the arch of the eyebrows. The features were open, honest, and yet primal and passionate. The mouth was curved and full and appeared to be equally suited for smiling and growling. The riders cheekbones were high and well defined and yet not cumbersome, nor were they delicate. The riders jaw was built along the same lines. The entire image was one of power and beauty and strength. The most relevant revelation of this new rider caused Eragon to gasp in surprise.

"You are a woman?"

"Last time that I checked I was." Sahkur-Rah said with an amused half smile as she removed the rest of the coat. Her dress was a peculiar as the rest of her. She did not wear a dress as most human women wore or a tunic like an elf's. She wore a short top that covered her chest and stopped at her midriff, leaving it bare. There was only one sleeve and it was a strap going over her right shoulder. Her forearms were encased in long animal hide gloves. She wore a sliver belt decorated with golden runes and on her belt was hung a long thin sword. Her pants were low slung and hung just at her hips leaving her navel exposed as well. Her entire outfit was made of animal hide and it was black.

"So do you just wish to stand there all day and gape at me, or can I get you to introduce me to those that I must work with Shadeslayer?" She had an amused smirk on her face, as if she were used receiving this kind of attention from men where she was from. It took a bit for him to realise she was talking to him.

_Eragon, snap out of it. Sahkur-rah just asked you something._

_Huh? Oh, right. Sorry…_ He cleared his throat as he thought how best to answer in the ancient language.

"Yes, of course, if you would follow me I'll introduce you to the leaders of the Varden." He was careful not to make it clear which he had said yes to. He tried not to wince at how high pitched and strangled his voice sounded from embarrassment. She was striking but not enough so for him to just lose it in such a fashion. Her features, while they held a certain charm, were alien. Even Elain was a far greater beauty. Besides, she was bound to be just as welcoming of his affections as Arya was. So why be bothered by her. He had just convinced himself that this new rider was not attractive to him when he heard a quiet chuckle from Saphira.

_Me thinks you doth protest too much, little one._

…_Quiet you…_

They had finally reached the large tent that housed the leaders of the varden. Nasuada and the council of elders not to mention king Thorrin had been in the large tent while all this had been happening. They were somewhat disturbed by the large use of magic as well as the sudden release of it and fearing the worst most of them had gotten their battle gear on and had just stepped outside the tent when Eragon and the new rider showed up.

"My lady" Eragon bowed to Nasuada formally as he approached her and the others "There is a new rider that has come to our aid." He stepped aside as he introduced them "Nasuada, leader of the varden, meet Sahkur-Rah, rider. Rider Sahkur-Rah, meet Lady Nasuada, leader of the varden." They shook hands formally and then Sahkur-Rah grinned as she said something in what must have been her language. When asked to translate she replied "Too much formality makes friends of enemies and enemies of friends. It is an old saying where I am from." Eragon was prepared to translate the ancient language for them but she spoke in rough broken human language.The languages were similar but different enough to cause confusion so that while over here so she largely confined herself to the ancient language except when necessary.

"I can certainly see the truth in it though. Please come in, you have know idea how much your presence means to us."

Sahkur-Rah smiled grimly as she replied "I actually have a very good idea how much it means. The dragons where I am from sensed the death of several of their own hundreds of years ago and swore to find the cause and destroy it. When they discovered the cause they realised that they must wait for the right time to come and help with its destruction. Am I correct in guessing that what killed the dragons and their own rules this land and has enslaved twenty-six who are now dead, two who live and one that has lost both mind and soul sometime ago?"

"Actually Galbatorix only had thirteen forsworn" Came a highly irritated voice of one of the council. The rider just looked at her and said "But you only count their own, and not the dragons as well. Thirteen riders, thirteen dragons, twenty-six enslaved." Her voice was very matter of fact but there was a flash of annoyance in her black eyes that Eragon felt wholeheartedly. There were 13 riders, true, but each rider had a dragon. That made the number of the forsworn 26 not just 13. The council member made a harrumphing noise as she turned away from the new rider and looked at the back of the tent. Eragon noticed that most of the council of elders had opted to not get into their battle gear; Only Nasuada's next in charge had bothered to do so. Nasuada had brought them into the tent and insisted that they eat something as they talked to Sahkur-Rah in order to find out more of her. Eragon did not eat any of the meat that they had put out but the new rider had no problem with procuring a few slices for herself. As they ate Eragon listened with curiosity as Sahkur-Rah told them about her self. Eragon noticed Elva sitting beside her, oddly at peace in her presence. He wondered at that. There were always people with misfortune around her so how could she be at peace now, which reminded Eragon of his promise to her. He signalled her to him and she came and sat down beside him. He thought carefully of what he wished to say and do and found the strength in him that was his magic reserve. He whispered his new blessing over her so as not to interrupt the conversation.

"That which has changed you will bind you no more, do not be a shield for misfortune, be shielded against misfortune." He heard a small gasp as Elva felt the spell on her change so that she no longer felt the constant need to help those in trouble. She was crying softly. She was free to be a child again. Eragon held her gently as he listened to the rest of the new riders' tale. He learned a lot about her.

She was from a country far over the ocean where dragons lived alongside humans, dwarves and elves. . Her parents had been bonded to dragons; they weren't riders in the same way that he was a rider. They were considered to be part of the dragon clan and were treated as such. The dragons were not in a pact with humans and elves as they were here; they needed the bond partners as they were called to interact with others who were not dragon. They negotiated through these people and let their voices be heard. For several years this was more than acceptable and helped to keep the peace. Until thirty years ago when the dwarves were tired of so few of their kind having what they believed to be a status symbol of having a dragon partner. They decided that unless they had more of their kind bonded to dragons they would destroy as many of the eggs as they could and kill all the dragons. So they started a war and Sahkur-Rah's parents were caught by the dwarves and killed. She was only a year old at the time and the battle had been raging on for 15 years. The dragons decided that they had put up with enough of that war and needed a way to impose peace on the dwarves. So they changed Sahkur-Rah. Her mother had been elf and her father a human so they took the life essence from one of their willing dwarf companions as well as the life essence from one of their elder dragons and gave them to her. It effectively made her ¼ elf, ¼ human, ¼ dwarf, and ¼ dragon.

_So that is why she eats the meat, she is part dragon._ Eragon mused to himself. It would also explain the sheer amount of power that she could summon.

They presented her to the country and as expected the dwarves quieted down and slowly stopped fighting. She was their peace pact with all of the other races and so long as her line lived there would be peace between all of the races in her country. When she was four she bonded with her dragon Eressmiss and had started visiting the people and places while she was trained by the dragons. The people had many names for her and all of them meant Dragon Queen.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Do not own, not making money

Inheritance Book 3: Ride home.

They were about two days travel from Surda and they were just making camp for the night. Sahkur-Rah was pitching a makeshift tent of her own outside. Eragon watched her with interest as she propped some poles on the ground and staked the ends of the canvas to the earth. He watched her fluid movements and realised he knew where her unearthly grace came from. It would be from the dragon part of her heritage that she inherited her movements. There were still some things that bothered him about her though. Where did she come from, why was she here, and was she here to help defeat Galbatorix?

Eragon approached her cautiously. He had to decide the best way to ask these questions without seeming confrontational; he had first hand experience on how touchy elves could be when they feel as if they're being challenged. He stood a polite distance back and cleared his throat.

"You know you don't have to tip toe around me right? I may be ¼ elf but I am not nearly as tetchy as them, so what's on your mind Shadeslayer?"

"I just was curious where you, you know, what I mean to say is… You know never mind."

"Don't act all bashful Eragon, ask away. I promise I won't bite, unless you ask nicely."

Eragon blushed furiously. He was a veteran of two battles now, had killed urgles, had killed kulls, had even killed a shade, and now he was blushing like a boy with a badly concealed crush. What was wrong with him? He cleared his throat and tried asking his questions again.

"I wanted to know where you came from and why you're here."

"I'm from a land called clandvensha and I am here for several reasons. The most prominent one is to help destroy this thing that that you call King Galbatorix in any way I can."

"And the other reasons?"

"I am also here for my safety."

"Why isn't it safe for you back home?"

"You do remember how I am the peace pact between the races where I am from and so long as I and my line survive there will be peace in clandvensha?" Eragon nodded "Well, let me just say that there are several among those back home who do not want peace and take every chance they get to bring about war."

"But in order to do that they would have to kill you."

"Right, so I have come here for my safety as well as those who I'd have to kill to defend myself, and here I will stay for as long as I live."

"Oh, umm, ok." Eragon turned to leave when Sahkur-Rah called him to turn back.

"So what is this I hear about you going to kill Ra'zacs, their parents and save a pretty damsel at the behest of your cousin?"

Eragon stared at her for a moment as he wondered how she could possibly know that.

"I overheard your cousin bragging about how his cousin, the Shadeslayer, would help him save his fiancée from the clutches of the Ra'zacs. I have to ask you, do you have a plan besides flying around and hoping you get lucky enough to kill one?"

"Yes I have a plan and what would you know about the Ra'zacs? It's not like you ever faced one."

"Actually there were several where I came from a long time ago but they were eradicated. We did not think that any of their kind had escaped. So what is this plan of yours?"

"Ummm well actually I plan to draw them out into daylight by flying just out of their range on Saphira, I then plan on attacking them."

"I see and you Plan to kill them how? How many of them are there? What is your fall back plan should this one fail to work? Do you know how to get in their lair without alerting them? Can you answer even one of those questions?"

"Well, no not really."

"In that case I suggest that we, your cousin included, fly ahead back to the elves home and come up with a plan there, because unless we can answer all of those questions then we are not ready to go into battle against those things yet."

"Why do you want to go to Ellesmera?"

"Because I can sense another dragon and his own there; they will be of use to us when we plan this." How could she sense Glaedr and Oromis?

"You are going to help me fight the Ra'zacs? Why?"

"Because they are no doubt helping the king as their kind thrives off of the pain and suffering of others. They are also a danger without needing the backing of a ruler."

"Right and you expect me to explain this to Roran how?"

"I don't expect you to, I will in the morning."

"Good luck getting him to listen."

"Luck will have nothing to do with it."

Roran was glad that they would be on their way soon. It was early morning and they were just about at Surda. He knew that it would be at least two more days before they could leave but He was impatient to save his Katrina. He did not want to imagine what those things had done to her. He just hoped that they would be able to get to her in time. He felt completely confident in his cousin's abilities to destroy those things that had killed his father. He knew that he would not be of much use in the upcoming battle but he wanted to be there for Katrina when they saved her. He heard footsteps approaching him from behind and he turned quickly, expecting Horst or someone else from Carvahall to be there, Instead it was that odd looking rider who had arrived this morning. He turned away expecting her to be there to ask him about his cousin. He did not expect her to grab him by the arm and throw him down on the ground, and then sit on his chest, effectively pinning him there.

"Roran, I am Sahkur-Rah. You and I need to talk."

"You have my attention. But why are you sitting on my chest?"

"Because when I say talk I mean that I am going to tell you something. And by something I mean something that you are not going to like. But you are going to listen to me and before I am done you will agree with me." Her voice held nothing of a threat but Roran decided that it would be in his best interest to listen to her carefully. "You intend to attack the Ra'zacs soon, with your cousin. I wonder if you have any clue as to what you are getting both of yourselves into. Before you say anything I know about your lady love and all that; but if you don't want the two of you to wind up dead with your cousin and Saphira caught and handed over to Galbatorix on a silver platter, you would do well to heed my advice." Roran nodded, if somewhat stiffly for her to go on. He had already decided that he was not going to listen. Something of this must have shown on his face as she slapped him, very hard, before she continued. "The Ra'zacs are more than any mere human can deal with. They are more than even one rider, of any species, can deal with. Even one of them is a match for a dragon, pay attention; if you want even a hope of killing them you will need my help. If you want my help you will do as I say. If you even so much as grumble you will regret it, as I will castrate you and then toss you to the Ra'zacs as a diversion. Do you understand me?" Her voice was so calm and matter of fact that Roran decided that it was wise to not glare at her. "Your protests will be 'that they have your girlfriend; that she is in danger, that you must go and save her immediately'; you will also mention that they have killed someone, or several someone's, close to you and that they deserve to die. While I will not dispute that last one, think carefully on the first one. They wish to lure you and your cousin into a trap. Everyone knows that live bait is the best bait. They also know that the Shadeslayer can scrye her and see if she is alive. So it would be in their best interest to keep her alive. Do you agree with me so far?"

"Yes but they will hurt her."

"And make her cry out in pain so that you will neglect common sense and go to her 'rescue' immediately? Of course they will! I did not say that it would be a pleasant trip in the country for her, and you would not be human if you felt anything but this urgency to go and save her, but understand that if you do, then the rescue mission will end with your deaths and the Shadeslayers' capture. They will torture her, but not to insanity, and they won't do worse than hit her or beat her."

"And how do you know that!" Roran was incensed with this woman. How dare she suggest that they wait to save Katrina!

"I know the Ra'zacs. Unless things have changed drastically they don't have the right equipment to do anything even close to rape, and while they are intelligent, they lack imagination. They will hurt her, and she will need you when we get her, but we will not rescue her if we go in blind. So we will have to wait until we have a plan. Do you understand me?"

Roran glared at her, until he saw that she was not going to leave until he answered. He thought about it. What she said made sense, even if he didn't like it. He also couldn't deny the horrendous outcome if the Ra'zac did capture Eragon; but he did not like it. He finally swallowed his pride and nodded stiffly at her. He did not like it but he would have to live with it. At least until they came up with a plan. He did not know how he would explain this to Birgit though. She was already after his blood for the death of Quimby. She would not hear of waiting for some strange woman who wanted to wait until they had a plan.

"There is more to this than just me and Eragon wanting revenge. A woman lost her husband to them. She wants revenge on them and me for it." Sahkur-Rah looked at him in silent bewilderment for a moment.

"She wants revenge on you, for what?"

"The Ra'zacs were sent there after me, and I hid in the mountains."

"That was very intelligent."

"The townspeople said that I was away hunting."

"That was not, but I am interrupting."

"So they said that they would wait until I returned. Things got really bad. One of the soldiers killed Quimby, this woman's husband. The Ra'zacs took the body and ate him, so we could not give him a proper burial."

"So this woman wants revenge on you for something the Ra'zac did?"

"It was my choice to hide in the mountains."

"Just as it was the Soldiers choice to kill her husband and the Ra'zacs choice to eat his body. Some people define grief stricken stupidity so well it isn't humorous. Tell me her name and I will talk to her."

"But she is mad at me"

"And before I'm done she will have forgotten all about you, because I will talk sense into her. If I can't do that then I will terrify her, and if I can't do that then she will continue to the Ra'zacs lair alone." She got up off of him "What is her name?"

"Her name is Birgit"

Without a hint of a smile the strange woman turned and walked away from him. He didn't know how he felt about her, but he was grateful that he would not be there to witness the confrontation between the two.

Birgit was getting her things gathered before the mornings trek to Surda. Then after they had reached Surda they would head for the Helgrind. They would kill those things that had eaten her husbands' body and then she would have her revenge on Roran. She knew that it was not entirely his fault but he had played his part. She would make sure that her justice was quick and painless. She just hoped that she could make Eragon understand, she would not be able to take a rider, no matter how little training he had. She had just turned around when she was thrown back and pinned to the ground. When she finally had her bearings she looked up and saw that strange woman who had arrived on dragon back just last night. She was looking at her with a face as devoid of emotion as a mask.

"I am Sahkur-Rah and we have much to discuss Birgit."

"What do you want?" She replied in a harsh manner.

"I want to talk sense into you. Is it true that you wish for revenge on Roran?"

"Yes!"

"For what?"

"For his part in my husbands' death!"

"I see and did he order those soldiers to kill your husband?"

"No but he-"

"Did he tell the Ra'zac to eat your husband?"

"No but he-"

"Who came up with the very weak story that Roran was away hunting for a few weeks?"

"I did why-"

"Did you realise that that would make them decide to stay and wait and terrify you until you decided to give him up?"

"What!"

"It would have been much better if you had decided to tell them that he had moved away to a large city, the Ra'zac cannot tell when a person is lying to them. Now then let me see if I have this correct: Roran hid away in the mountains to save himself, oddly enough this would have saved your town as well if they had no idea that he might be near, or come back in the foreseeable future. You told them that he was gone but nearby and would eventually return. A soldier chose to kill your husband for some reason, then the Ra'zac ate the meat and left the bones, and you want revenge on Roran because of this? That makes no sense; it was not his decision to send the Ra'zac to your town. It was not on his orders that soldiers came marching down on your husband. Is there common sense in your wish for revenge or is it just blind stupidity brought on by grief?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, you are an abomination! Not even wholly human. Of course you can't understand!" The strange woman got off her and lifted her so that their eyes were level. What Birgit saw in them made her cringe. There was anger, and hurt yes. But there was a cold ruthlessness that unnerved her.

"Oh I understand grief all right. I understand hate, and I understand revenge. But I, unlike you, will only take them within the limits of reason. Is it reasonable to hate and wish revenge on the Ra'zac? Yes of course it is. Is it reasonable to hate and wish revenge on the king who ordered those things to your home? Naturally it is. But it is not reasonable to hate and wish revenge on someone whose only part in your husbands' death was to hide so that he would not be taken! Do you have any idea why they wanted Roran in the first place? They wanted him to lure his cousin into a trap! If they had taken him then Eragon would have gone after him and then instead of being here to help the varden he would, right now, be in the clutches of the king and be used to oppress and torture all of the people in this country, and Roran would be dead, his bones picked as clean as your husbands'. Are you understanding what I am saying to you woman?"

"I understand, I just don't care. I am going to the Ra'zacs to take my revenge on them; I am then going to take my revenge on Roran for everything that he has done!"

"Fine, then you will go the Ra'zacs alone! You will find that I won't stop you."

"But I won't be alone! Roran and Eragon will be there to help me! And then I will have my revenge on Roran!"

"You will find that you will be alone, I am making them go back to the elves home to make a plan that will work against the Ra'zac. I know those things better than they do. I know what we face. If you wish to come with us then you will have to stop with this 'revenge on Roran' stupidity! If you do not you may go to the lair alone, if you only pretend to let go of this hate and then try to kill him to satisfy your bloodlust I will not hesitate to kill you. These are your choices! Now choose!"

Birgit could only stare at this woman. Who was she to dictate who she could and could not have revenge against! She would not stop her from getting her revenge!

Birgit snarled at her "I will have my revenge no matter who you think you are! And I will not wait on your whim! Let me down now!" She began to kick at her midsection. It felt like she was kicking stone. The woman glared at Birgit, disgust evident on her face. She dropped Birgit roughly on the ground.

"You have chosen poorly. Normally I would be glad with the thought that you might learn from it but if you follow through with it then you will not live to see another day. I only ask that you reconsider before you leave. Let the dead bury the dead. Your husbands' revenge can wait. The Ra'zacs are going nowhere, and the dead are beyond concern." The woman turned to walk away but called back over her shoulder "If you choose to leave for the Ra'zac now then you will go alone. If you choose to continue against Roran then you will be confronted by me. If you choose to stop with the blood feud and come back with us to plan then you will be welcomed. Choose wisely."

Two days later found Roran and Eragon discussing possible methods of attack to use when they attacked the Ra'zac lair when a woman rode by on horseback. Eragon Recognized her as Birgit. What was she doing riding away from here? He looked at Roran and saw that his face had gone white.

"Roran what is it?"

"Birgit, she's going after the Ra'zac alone."

"What?" Eragon looked after her and saw that she was heading in the direction of the Helgrind. He started after her when he felt someone grab him and hold onto him in a grip that he couldn't break. He turned and saw Sahkur-Rah looking grimly on at the departing woman.

"We have to stop her; she's going after the Ra'zac!"

"I know."

"Then how can you let her go!"

"I told her we would be going back to this Ellesmera to decide on how to attack the Ra'zac, I told her she could come along. I told her that if she came along then she would have to give up her blood feud with your cousin. Apparently the dead and her anger dictate her actions."

"Why would she be angry at my cousin?"

"That is something even I do not understand. Come on, she has made her choice and she has chosen poorly. Even I can't force her to change her mind."

"But the Ra'zac will kill her!"

"I know this, and I pointed that much out to her, but she apparently has decided that revenge on the Ra'zac for the desecration of the body that once held her husband cannot wait."

"I have to save her!"

"Eragon, there is an old proverb where I am from and it is something that you will have to learn. This old proverb says 'to try to save everyone is to condemn them all to death'. You cannot save everyone. To save this woman she would demand to go after the Ra'zac now. To do so is to kill her, your cousin, his lady and give yourself and Saphira over to Galbatorix. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Then you understand why we can't go after her. It is not easy but it is her choice to make. All we can do is live with it. Come on It's time for us to leave as well."

"Yeah, I guess so."

They had just gotten outside the gates when they were met by Arya and Orik. They had horses and looked like they were ready to ride with them.

"You know it would be a good deal faster if you would leave the horses here and ride on a dragon." Sahkur-Rah said as they stopped beside them.

"But what dragon could carry three people?"

"My Dragon can carry the two of you and Saphira can carry Roran as well as Eragon."

"And how will you get there?"

"I will fly myself."

"What?"

"I will fly, I am ¼ Dragon remember?" With that Sahkur-Rah crouched down and with a loud rustling noise, two great scaly wings burst out of the skin on her back. She looked at them and spoke in their minds.

_Try to keep up if you can._

_Is that a challenge little flyer?_

_Why yes, Eressmiss, I do believe it is _

With a roar that would have been a whoop of joy for a human Eressmiss took off so fast that both Arya and Orik were very nearly thrown off. Saphira looked at the two of them for a few moments as Eragon finished getting Roran ready for the flight.

_I do believe that they have lost their minds little one._

_I agree with you._

_I do believe that insanity is contagious little one._

_I agree with you Brightscales._

_In that case hold on tight!_

Eragon got a firm hold onto the saddle and Roran just as Saphira hurtled upwards at a great pace. They were moving so fast that the wind was sucked from Rorans mouth as he screamed in sudden terror. Eragon laughed as they reached Saphiras top speed and caught up with Eressmiss and Sahkur-Rah.

"Don't you ever do that again Eragon! If you do I will kill you!"

"I'm sorry Roran but it's not my decision, its Saphiras." With that Saphira performed a barrel roll that sent Roran yelling again.

"Will you stop that you overgrown lizard!"

_Let me think about it for a moment. No._

"Eragon make her stop before I throw up."

_Saphira, you might want to stop before he throws up. _

_Why?_

_Because he'll hit you with it._

Immediately Saphira stopped rolling over in mid air. But she didn't slow down. They had decided to fly over the Hadarac Desert and make their way to Ellesmera that way. It would not take them long to get there. Fortunately it looked as if Arya and Orik were fairing better than Roran. Of course Eressmiss was not making barrel rolls in mid flight like Saphira was. A thought struck Eragon.

_You aren't acting like this because Eressmiss is male are you?_

_No, not entirely. It just feels so good to fly again._

_Oh, okay. I was just worried that…You know._

_That I would lose my head and do something foolish? No I learned my lesson the last time. Mind you he is a lovely shade of green._ There was a low rumbling sound That Eragon recognized as dragon laughter coming from Eressmiss.

_And you are a lovely shade of blue but I'm not actively trying to capsize my guests._

_And you shouldn't listen in on others conversations_

_I couldn't help it when I heard my name mentioned, besides a conversation is more fun with three._

_I'd say four_ Sahkur-Rah added. There was a silence for a moment then Arya broke in

_Actually five is quite a good number for a conversation._

They managed to fill the day making plans for their attack on the Ra'zac and when night came Roran was giving him odd looks. After the fifth time that he caught his cousin looking at him strangely he decided to find out what was wrong.

"Roran" Eragon said as he sat down beside him "What is it?"

"Nothing" Roran was never good at lying; Eragon could always tell when he was trying to.

"Look, just tell me what's wrong Roran. I can tell there is something wrong so just spill it."

"It's nothing. Really it's just that you've changed so much since I last saw you I'm not sure how to act around you anymore."

"I haven't changed that much."

"So you've always had pointed ears and an insane dragon and I've just never noticed? Eragon, you have changed. Don't try to deny it."

"So have you."

"But I haven't changed as much as you have."

"Right, I guess you haven't. Come to think of it you used to swing hammers at soldiers' heads and incite entire villages to rebellion on a frequent basis when we were kids."

"That's not funny"

"It wasn't supposed to be."

"Look, it takes some getting used to. Knowing that the goofy looking kid I grew up with is the first Rider since the fall of the original riders."

"And knowing that your cousin is responsible for the mass evacuation of an entire village doesn't? We've both changed but we're still the same people."

"So why don't you eat meat anymore?"

"Rider training."

"So something I wouldn't understand?"

"Honestly Roran it's not that you wouldn't understand it, it's just that it's too difficult for me to explain, and I am tired and I just want to sleep. It's nothing really."

Eragon finished eating in silence and rolled out his matt. He didn't understand why Roran was reacting strangely to him but he would have to live with it. The rest of their journey was much the same for the remainder of it. They would fly as fast as they could with Sahkur-Rah in the lead and they would eat and sleep when it got dark. They eventually made to the forest of the elves and they decided to continue on until they reached their destination. What surprised Eragon was that Eressmiss and Sahkur-Rah seemed to be able to find their way just fine. He decided that they must be guiding themselves by focusing on Oromis. It only took an additional twelve hours of flight for them to reach the journeys end and when they did Eragon was not very surprised to see Oromis' hut in the clearing that they landed in.

Oromis was sitting in the clearing making what appeared to be a fairth. At least he had been. When he had heard them approaching he had abandoned it and had brought out his sword. He looked as though he was ready to use it, when he saw that Eragon and Arya, as well as Orik were among his visitors he relaxed somewhat. He was still wary of the people he had not met before.

"Eragon, I take it that things have gone well? But it appears that you have picked up a few people that I haven't met yet, and a Dragon?"

"The man with the scraggly hair and beard is my cousin Roran, the woman with the wings is Sahkur-Rah, and the green dragon is her friend Eressmiss. It is a long story on how they got here but maybe we should sit and discuss-"

Eragon stopped talking as Sahkur-Rah stepped forward with a look of strong concentration on her face.

"You are sick. Why are you sick?"

"That is a very personal and long question young one-"

"I was not asking you how you got sick I was asking you why you are still sick."

"My sickness is of the kind that can not be cured." Eragon heard a note of stiffness in Oromis' voice. He could tell that Sahkur-Rah was not making a good impression.

"That is not true."

"I assure you that it is."

"And I assure you that it isn't, unless of course you did not study what the wild dragons taught you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Wild dragons, you know unbonded dragons. You did study what they taught, right?"

"I have never studied with wild dragons in my life. They were too dangerous."

"Ahh, I see now. What race was the first rider here?"

"Elf."

"That explains a great deal. The first bonded to a dragon where I am from was a human. He and the others after him live among the wild dragons."

"That is insane."

"No actually it's not. When you are bonded with a dragon you become one of them and dragons do not hurt their own. So the first to bond here was an elf, and elves in their infinite logic decided that wild dragons were too dangerous to live among, completely ignoring the possibility that what they could teach would be of great value. So now their knowledge has been lost to you and you do not know how to heal yourself."

"I used to be very good with magic-"

"Really, could you receive energy from the elements?"

"No, that is preposterous. You do not know the first rule of magic clearly."

"Actually, there is only one rule. There are no rules. Not where dragons are concerned."

"You would do well to speak to your elders with respect."

"And you would do well to listen."_ Eressmiss, I think that we are going to have a great deal more work on our hands than we had planned on._

_Too true, young flyer, I would advise a healing for both the elder dragon and the stubborn point ears first. Then I'll teach them. You work on strategy and when they are ready you will teach them the elements and their power. You are better at it than I am._

_That sounds like a plan. Not the best possible but I think that that possibility has been lost since they still need to be taught. _

"Fine then, Eressmiss and I will heal you and the elder dragon and then I'll begin working on a plan while Eressmiss teaches you some of the more important things that you didn't learn from the unbonded dragons."

"I do not think that you have anyplace to tell me what should and should not be."

"That much is clear. Surprisingly enough I do not care." _Eressmiss are you ready?_

_Yes, as always._

_Very well then_

Sahkur-Rah and Eressmiss walked to either side of the small clearing and when they were standing exactly opposite of each other Sahkur-Rah whispered in a strange language, it sounded like the ancient language but the words were strange. Eragon felt the earth tremble. Then a ring of fire surrounded both Oromis and Glaedr. At least it looked like fire but it was not hot and it did not burn. Both Oromis and Glaedr looked anxious, and Eragon was as well. He did not know either of these people well enough to allow what they were doing. Before he could think about it he tried to jump over the fire. He was thrown back however and landed on his backside. He tried to get up but something was holding him down. He could only watch as the fire changed to pure white light and engulfed both Oromis and Glaedr. Then there was a strong wind that whipped the trees around. Soon there was a rain burst and a bolt of lightening shot down into the ring. He heard Oromis yell and Glaedr Roar in pain, but he could do nothing. Then it was over. Eragon watched as the light died down and the invisible weight lifted off of him. He jumped up and ran over to both Oromis and Glaedr as fast as he could. He noticed Saphira, Arya and Orik ahead of him as they rushed to their fallen comrades. When he got there Oromis was laying on his side. He appeared to be asleep. He seemed fine though. When Eragon knelt beside him he saw that the scar that had been on his temple was gone. He heard a gasp from Arya as Saphira urged him to look at Glaedr. He rose, carrying Oromis and went over to where the others were standing. They parted so that he could see more clearly. He felt his jaw drop as he saw what they had done. Where Glaedrs' foreleg had been missing was a new leg. It clearly would need a great deal of exercise before it was as strong as the other leg but it was there. The scales were not gold like the rest of him but a pure white. They shone like mother of pearl when the light hit them.

"How did you do this?" He did not look away from Glaedr as he asked. Sahkur-Rah approached from behind as she replied.

"The elements have strong healing powers, what you just witnessed was what the unbonded dragons call a healing. Two healthy ones, a dragon and another of the dragon clan, stand facing each other on either side of those who need healing. Then one calls on the six elements and asks for the energy to heal them. When the elements agree they allow the asker to access their powers of healing. First earth trembles as it hears the call; fire burns the sickness and turns into light which heals. Air gives breath to the living; water cries and lightening strikes."

"But how could the elves not know this?"

"Because they are elves, and in their infinite logic choose to stay away from dragons that were unbonded. They missed a great deal of things that would have been more than merely useful to know. Come on, let's get them someplace warm. When they wake up they will feel tired and possibly cranky, but they will be whole. Eressmiss and I will give them a day to adjust to this then Eressmiss will teach all of you. I should hope that the point ears attempts to be respectful. Eressmiss is a good teacher but does not suffer fools."

* * *

Just so's you aren't surprised in the future: Sahkur-Rah has wings, can breath fire and is abnormally strong. basically anything a dragon can do she can do. She is 1/4 dragon after all: Also looking for ideas for pairings. Not against writing slash but i'd be no good at yaoi due to my very weird sense of humor. Also thinking that maybe Oromis/Eragon might be interesting. 


	3. Chapter 3

Discalimer: do not own, not making money, also two guys kiss but it is not slashy

A time for everything

Eragon went to carry Oromis to his small hut in the clearing but was stopped by Eressmiss.

_It would be better if he were to have someone nearby; frequently after a healing an elf will experience nightmares of a sort. Most frequently to do with regrets. They often wake up disoriented and confused and if there is no one nearby they might accidentally destroy things in their confusion._

_I understand Eressmiss, but don't you think that he will be resentful for being changed against his will?_

_I don't doubt he will, even the elves who frequently seek our assistance on their own when faced with a similar sickness will be resentful. _

Eragon decided to take Oromis to the riders' tree house, it was warm and comfortable and he would be nearby when he woke up. He found the climb up slightly more difficult than usual with the elf in his arms but he managed it fine. Arya had taken Orik and Roran with her to the palace to spend the night and he had no idea where Sahkur-rah had gone to, she had flown away shortly after the healing. Eressmiss was taking care of Glaedr and saphira was out hunting. Eragon had finally gotten to the top of the stairs and into the room when Oromissuddenly jerked. Eragon looked down and saw that he was breathing heavy, but his eyes were unfocused, he must have been having a nightmare. Eragon laid him down on the bed and tried to cover him but Oromis suddenly jerked to the side and kicked out with all of his strength. Eragon had jumped out of the way just in time as the kick would have connected with his head otherwise. He retrieved the cover that had been thrown to the floor when he heard Oromis muttering in the ancient language.

"No, go away. This is none of your business." He twisted to his other side and then snapped his head back. "Get out! You have no right to do that. Don't hurt her! She had nothing to do with this. Don't take, don't… Come back to me." He seemed to quiet down now, at least the thrashing had stopped. Eragon went to pull the covers over him and had almost finished when one of his fingers brushed Oromis' shoulder. Before he had a chance to move Oromis grabbed his wrist and had pulled him down. His eyes were opened but unfocused, as if he were still asleep. He whispered to Eragon as he cupped his face.

"You came back La'iddina." Before he could move away Oromis had brought Eragons' head down and kissed him. Eragon stared at the headboard helpless to do anything about what was happening. Finally Oromis let go and lay back down. Eragon thought that he was free to go when he tried to stand up. Apparently Oromis had wrapped an arm around his waist before he fell asleep. Eragon had to wait fifteen minutes before his grip relaxed enough for him to free himself and sleep on the couch a few feet away.

Morning came soon enough as he was awakened by a loud yell and a crash a few feet away. The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Eragon picked himself up off of the floor after he had fallen out from being startled awake from a sound sleep. He turned and saw Oromis standing by the overturned night table the bed coverings on the floor and the lamp raised over his head. His hair was in disarray and he looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

"What is this? What am I doing here?"

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"I was outside my hut making a fairth when I heard you and another dragon flying down. I think I remember the dragon being green and something that looked like a woman with wings. I remember something happening and then I remember…" He let himself trail off as Eragon watched him. He did not elaborate further but Eragon thought his eyes were going unfocused as he tried to remember.

"What else do you remember master Oromis?"

"I must have been dreaming; the person I thought I saw has been dead since the fall of the riders."

"Who is La'iddina master?" Oromis looked startled by the question.

"Why do you ask?" He sounded as if he were suddenly angry

"I just heard you talking in your sleep and you said her name, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious."

"It's all right Eragon," he lowered the lamp and straightened the night table. Eragon thought he wasn't going to answer his question when Oromis sighed and sat on the bed. He seemed somewhat deflated, as if he had just shrunk two feet since he woke up that morning.

"La'iddina is, was, one of the dragon riders. She was among the first killed by Galbatorix. She died trying to protect Vrail. We had been together for sometime before that and had been expecting our first child together. She was killed, our child died before he had been born. I didn't learn of it until almost two weeks later when Galbatorix had her body sent to me by one of the forsworn. He dropped it from a great height and it was impossible to recognize her face, they had removed the skin and the fall had destroyed what was left of it. I only knew it was her because it was elf, it had the necklace I had made for her and was pregnant. It also had her birthmark. She had a white one at the base of her neck in the shape of a bird." Oromis stopped talking and stared out the window distantly. As if there were some answers for him there. He didn't seem to notice that Eragon was there watching him with worry. He spoke so softly that Eragon had to strain to hear his words. He did not appear to be talking to anyone but himself as he looked out the window.

"Our kind usually die from grief after one that we truely loved dies. But I had to live; the only reason I had was to teach the next rider and to see the end of Galbatorix. I was looking forward to death, after all this time. Then that blasted dragon and that rider just had to heal me. Why couldn't they have left me to die?"

Eragon felt uneasy with Oromis sitting on the bed with his thoughts going down such a grim path. He couldn't think of anything to do except sit on the bed beside him and wait for him to come back to himself again.

Roran had no idea what to expect when he arrived at the elf woman's home. Needless to say he was awed by all of it. He had heard fantastic stories of how the elves had learned to make their homes out of living trees; he hadn't thought that it was possible until now. He had been received warmly, he thought that it was because of his heroism on the battle field, but he had learned that it was because his cousin was a rider. He didn't know if he should be happy that the elves thought so highly of his cousin, or if he should be jealous because they didn't care to note that he was just as worthy as Eragon of praise in his own right. "Gee, if I had a dragon I'd be worshipped by the elves to." Roran muttered to himself, and then grinned like a madman. He sounded just like a spoiled child. He should be happy for Eragon that these people thought so highly of him. He had heard about a place nearby that had some historical significance and had asked if he might go there. The elves had no problem with him seeing it. He had been instructed on how to call the peculiar breed of horses there and how to treat them. Apparently they were as smart as any elf so Roran decided that treating them with complete respect was in order. He called one; Arya had told him the name for one of the mounts that was nearby. It was a peculiar thing to call a horse but Roran was not about to complain about it to the elves. He asked her to take him to the place of broken eggs. He had heard that it was of significance to the great elf dragon wars that had happened and was curious to see it. It took them two hours at a gallop to get there but Roran was happy to finally see it. He loved climbing and couldn't wait to see how high this peak went. When he got there he was not disappointed by the stories he had been told of its height. If anything the stories had not come close to the truth about what the peak was like to look at. He got off of his mount and began walking around the base, looking for a handhold or a foothold so that he could begin climbing. But he found none. The rock face was completely flawless. He did find an odd looking patch of stone on one of the faces though. He touched it, it moved inward slightly. Intrigued he pushed harder and jumped back in surprise when the stone face slide open to reveal a huge chamber. Roran took a cautious step inside and found the skeleton of a large animal crouched inside. It must have been a dragon by the look of the skull. Roran stepped forward and found that the rib cage was large enough for him to walk through without trouble. What he found was what looked like a small hole in the ground with a large shiny rock in it located close under the skeletons hind leg. It was bright silver and looked as if it would be heavy. Roran stooped to pick it up and found that it was heavier than he had thought it would be. He thought that it must have been stolen treasure from the dwarves of long ago and that the dragon had hidden it with his foot to prevent anyone from stealing it. It must have been what the dwarves thought that the dragons' egg must look like, Roran thought to himself, they have the shape right but the color is wrong and there is no pattern. The egg Eragon had found was blue with a white pattern on it. Roran decided to carry the stone sculpture back and show it to Eragon. He thought his cousin would get a chuckle out of it; of course he'd have to show Orik and see if the dwarves wanted this piece of craftsmanship back. He got back on the Elvin horse and began his ride back to Ellesmera, or at least the place that he had last seen Eragon. He thought that he heard a chirp nearby but he couldn't find any birds.

"I must be going crazy, if I'm hearing non existent birds."

It took a couple of hours and some directions from the large green dragon Eressmiss but he found his cousin and the elf that he had seen last night. They were in the tallest tree house he had ever seen. Roran began climbing the stairs but because of their steepness he found that he had to pause to catch his breath every few feet. Eventually he got to a trap door and found them sitting at a table and talking. Roran couldn't hear what they were talking about but he could tell from their expressions that it was important. Roran was going to wait for a lull in their conversation when he felt the stone give a twitch.

"What the-" Before Roran could finish that thought the stone had moved in his hand again. Roran dropped it with a yell. The stone was not a sculpture but a real dragon egg. "Holy Mother-" He backed away from the still twitching stone as Eragon and the elf both stood up and turned towards his yell. Eragon was the first to see the egg moving around on the floor, the elf was a close second.

Roran moved back from the egg and had just hit the wall when it started to crack; soon whatever was inside had burst open the egg and tumbled out. It was a small dragon and was a metallic silver color, as it sat up to get it's bearings it saw him and walked unsteadily towards him. Roran didn't know what to do, he looked at Eragon and then at the elf. They were staring at the dragon and him in surprise. That was when Roran decided on a course of action and fainted.

Roran came to when he felt some thing cold and wet fall on his face. He woke up sputtering from the unexpected bath that Eragon gave him in the form of an ice cold bucket of water being splashed on his face.

"Gah! What the, oh it's only you Eragon. You would not believe the weird dream I had. I thought that I had just spent the night in an elf village and that I had gone to this place called the place of broken eggs and that I had found this hidden room in the mountain with a large dragon skeleton and this sculpture that looked like an egg, only it wasn't a sculpture it was an egg and then the egg hatched."

"Yeah, Roran, it wasn't a dream."

"Haha Eragon, nice try-" He would have said more except that there was a cheep from the table. Roran looked and there was the tiny silver dragon.

Roran went pale, and looked like he was about to faint again when Eragon grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Snap out of it Roran."

"Did you react like this when Saphira hatched?"

"No, Oromis, I didn't. But then again I've always been a bit more adventurous than him."

"Ahh, that's good. You might want to get another bucket of water handy."

Eragon grabbed Roran again just in time to keep him from falling. Eragon couldn't believe it, his cousin who had single handedly evacuated his village was fainting at the sight of a baby dragon, before he had even touched it. Eragon Growled in frustration.

"Fine Roran if that's how you're going to be then." Eragon grabbed his fainted cousins' hand and put it palm down and open in the air over the tiny silver dragon. The little dragon brushed his head against the palm of Rorans hand. There was a jolt of magic and then there was a scar on Rorans palm like the one on his cousins. His cousin woke up looking confused.

"Why is my right arm numb?"

It took a couple more hours for them to explain what had happened to Roran. He took it pretty good, he didn't faint again anyway. But he did become hysterical when he found out that he was a rider.

"No way, I am not a rider! Nice try Eragon but I'm not falling for that joke."

"So how do you explain that scar on your palm?"

"What scar, I don't have a scar. Stop acting like a child Eragon." Roran left through the trap door.

"Gah! Fine Roran! When you get over this I'll be over here looking after _your_ dragon. Flaming hell, you'd think that I'd just announced the end of the world with the way that he's going on." Eragon let out a few more choice oaths before Oromis put a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm yourself Eragon, you know that using those words is not becoming. Your cousin will eventually calm down and look after this little one. Hopefully it will be soon."

"Yeah hopefully it will be." Eragon picked up the tiny dragon and walked over to Saphira who had come in shortly after they had gotten Roran to stop fainting. She began purring to the small dragon that looked up at her with large silver eyes. It snuggled close to her and made a contented purring sound as he cuddled next to her.

"I'd better get him something to eat before he starts gnawing on the furniture."

"That would be a good idea. I'm going to go to the place of broken eggs and see what answers I can glean from this hidden chamber that Roran found. I am surprised that it wasn't discovered before this."

_I think that I shall stay here and look after the little one, see if I can get some answers from what he can tell me._

"Was there anything special I should get for the baby dragon Oromis?"

"Yes, we usually gave them eggs and protein rich vegetables."

Saphira made a sound of disgust.

_How did they grow eating bird food I'd like to know? Don't worry about the dragon Eragon I'll take him hunting for some real food._

_Saphira, please don't be rude._

_I'm not I'm just saying what I think._

_It's all right Eragon, Saphira knows better than most what young dragons need to eat. You can help me and Glaedr, and that other dragon and her rider should they choose to join us, look for answers at the place of broken eggs._

Eragon walked with Oromis as they went in search of Glaedr. They found him where he had been left outside Oromis' hut. He looked as if he were actually frolicking in mid air. He felt Oromis tense up slightly as he saw him doing a cart wheel in midair and landing on his front legs. He couldn't stand like that for long because of his weak leg before he had to sit down again. Oromis made to step forward but stopped when he saw Eressmiss on the ground nearby helping Glaedr exercise his front leg. Eressmiss looked up and saw them standing nearby. Oromis turned and looked as if he was going to walk away. Eragon didn't know if he should try to stop him. Oromis however didn't leave he just stood there with his back to the two dragons. Eragon heard him in his mind speaking to him.

_Eragon could you talk to them for me and tell them what Roran told us? I am not entirely capable of doing so at the moment._

_Yes master Oromis._

Eragon approached the two dragons and waited for them to let him tell them what had happened. When he finally did tell them they were both intrigued and couldn't wait to find out more about the chamber that Roran had told them about. Eressmiss called Sahkur-rah with the mysterious connection that they had and told her about it. Eressmiss said that she'd meet them there. Just after Eragon told Oromis what had transpired Eressmiss spoke to him

_I see that he is displeased with us, is it just because we healed him without his consent or is there something more to this?_

_Yes there is more to it but it is not my place to tell. I'm sorry but I can't._

_That is understandable. I will give him time to tell me. Would you like to ride on me as Sahkur-rah will meet us there?_

_Well I-_

Oromis interrupted unintentionally before he could answer.

_Eragon you can ride with me on Glaedr._

Eragon looked at Eressmiss helplessly. He rolled his eyes and took off.

_Don't worry about it Eragon,_ Eressmiss said lightly as he got onto Glaedrs saddle just in front of Oromis _He will come around. _

The flight there was full of an uncomfortable silence at least that was how it felt to Eragon. Oromis would talk about some of the places as they passed them but for the most part he was quiet. Eragon felt somewhat uneasy with their close proximity with Oromis pressed against his back. It didn't help that he had both of his arms wrapped around him in order to get a good hold on one of Glaedrs spikes. It was mostly because of that kiss that he felt uncomfortable being so close to him. He knew that it was foolish to feel uncomfortable because Oromis had not been in his right mind and hadn't even known that it was him. The kiss had meant nothing to either of them but still Eragon was uncomfortable.

When they got to their destination Eragon was glad to get back on the ground again. He had never had any problem with flying before but he was still glad to be back on the ground. Eragon saw that both Eressmiss and Sahkur-rah were over at the cliff face inspecting the stone that Roran had discovered. They had the cliff face open and were inspecting the dragons' skeleton. Sahkur-rah was running her hands over the surface and mumbling to in that strange language again. Oromis was walking around the cliff face studying the rock. Eragon didn't know who he should be with, Oromis who was actively avoiding the new rider and her dragon or Eressmiss and Sahkur-rah. He didn't want to hurt Oromis as he was still his teacher but he didn't want to avoid the other two when they could teach so much to them.

_Go with him, he needs someone to talk to for the moment. We will teach you what we are doing and how to do it later. _Sahkur-rah told him in her calm voice. Eragon was glad that he would not be forced to choose this time. Oromis was like a father to him. He supposed that was why the kiss had him reacting so strangely. He walked beside Oromis for a while in silence before Oromis noticed him there.

"You should be with the others; they apparently will be able to teach you more than I can."

"They can teach me later, right now I'm - well - worried about you."

"Do not neglect your education for my sake. I will be fine. I have been fine by myself for centuries before you were born. I will be fine by myself centuries after you die. Don't worry about me."

"Do not push me away like that Master Oromis, if our situations were reversed do you really think that I would be fine alone?"

"I am not you. If I were then all of Alagaesia would be doomed as I would have to rely on you to teach me."

That had hurt Eragon more than he would have liked to let on. So he fell back a little and let Oromis walk several feet ahead of him. It didn't take long for Eressmiss to tell them that they were done. When he let them know that they were done Oromis walked back to Glaedr and waited for him to get into the saddle in front of him. If he had thought that the journey there had been full of uncomfortable silence, it was nothing in comparison to the journey back.

When they got back Eragon left for the tree house as fast as he could. He really didn't want anyone to see his hurt. When he finally went through the trap door he saw Saphira and the baby dragon were back from their hunting trip. The baby was purring contentedly beside Saphira on the raised dais. Eragon went directly to the study to be by himself for a while. He didn't answer Saphira when she tried to ask what was wrong. He didn't feel like talking about how Oromis had made him feel like a fool so he shut her out. He lost track of time as he sat brooding up there. It was soon night and he went to the bed to sleep. He didn't allow Eressmiss in when he tried to talk to him before he fell asleep. He just didn't want to talk to anyone.


	4. Chapter 4

11

When Eragon woke up the next morning it was just before sunrise. He remembered that today they were going to be learning from Eressmiss. He wondered if he'd also be learning from Oromis or if Oromis would be learning from Eressmiss as well. He was not looking forward to being around Oromis today if yesterday was an indicator of how he was going to be.

As he reluctantly bathed and shaved he heard Eressmiss trying to talk to him again. He let him this time.

_We won't be meeting for a couple of hours yet, but I was wondering what happened yesterday to make you as angry as you were._

_It was nothing. So where are we going to meet?_

_Down by the river outside of the stubborn point ears hut. You do know that if you want to talk about this nothing that has you upset you can always talk to me right?_

_Yes of course Eressmiss._

_Good, I'll see you later then._

Eragon finished cleaning up and had his breakfast. It was the usual elf fare that he had eaten ever since he had arrived in Ellesmera. He had just finished when he heard a soft knock. He cautiously approached the trapdoor, usually no one ever came to visit him this early. When he looked outside he saw Oromis outside with a tray of food.

"Morning Eragon, I was hoping to find you before we had lessons with Eressmiss this morning. I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was rude and you were only trying to do what you thought was right."

"That's all right, but you didn't have to bring any food, I have already eaten breakfast."

"Oh, very well; do you mind if I eat here though. I am somewhat reluctant to try going down the stairs with a full tray of food."

"No that would be fine." Eragon let Oromis into the house and followed him to the table where he cleaned up his mess. Oromis ate silently as he watched him clean. Eragon wondered what he was thinking about. He still was not very happy with the way that he had been treated yesterday but he was not as upset as he had been. Eragon finished with the dishes and was pondering whether or not he should go up to the study until it was time for them to meet with Eressmiss when Oromis cleared his throat.

"I was just wondering if I should continue to give you lessons, these other two have made me somewhat redundant." His words were light and he didn't appear to be upset but Eragon could tell that he was a bit dejected about someone else taking his role and making him feel less than adequate. He thought carefully before he answered, the last thing he wanted was to upset Oromis again, even if he had brought the subject up himself. An irate elf was not a pretty sight.

"Well I don't know about that, they might know different things than we do but what if they miss something. I'll still need you to teach me what they miss."

Oromis scrutinized him carefully for a few moments. He then twitched his lips lightly in an amused smile as he apparently decided something. He picked up his dishes and walked to where Eragon had cleaned his earlier.

"Either I am loosing my ability to act or you are getting good at reading me Eragon finiarel. I should not have allowed my feelings of hurt to color my actions towards you yesterday, and I won't allow them to do so in the future. You need to learn all that you can in the time that you have been given and I will not allow myself to stand in the way.

No, we will learn from this hel brisingr dragon and that beor rider, and I will try to keep my indignities and insults to myself."

"If it makes you feel any better about thinking those insults, they do sometimes refer to you as 'the stubborn point ears'."

Oromis looked at him for a few moments before he let himself smile slightly.

"It does help me feel less immature to know that."

Eventually it was time for them to head down to the river. When they got there they saw Eressmiss, Glaedr, Saphira, and surprisingly enough Roran and the little baby dragon. Roran was seated as far from the others as he could. Eressmiss looked at them and asked them to have a seat on a nearby fallen log.

_I think it would be best if I were to find out the extent of the knowledge that there was before the majority of dragons and their own were killed. If you would be so kind as to tell me I would know how best to approach what you have not learned yet._

_There is a great deal that we did know and it will take quite a long while for me to tell you._

_Very well, afterwards if you feel like it then._

_Fine_

"Umm, why am I here?" Roran asked from where he was sitting.

_Because you are a rider, blunt ears._

"No I'm not, my cousin is."

_Then why do you have a silver palm might I ask?_

"I don't have a silver palm."

_Fine then, you do not wish to believe that you are a rider, I will not force you. But you will stay here and learn._

"Why should I?"

_Because it is good for your health_

"How is it good for my health?"

Eressmiss brought his head down close to Roran and blew a plume of smoke at him

_Do not ask me that, stubborn blunt ears, or I will be forced to answer._

Roran coughed on the smoke and pulled away from the dragons large head.

_I think the best place to begin is physical combat_

_But we already know how to fight with swords._

_But can you fight with only your arms and legs?_

_That would be suicide_

_No it would be suicide not to know, as a man made weapon can be taken from you easily._

For the rest of the morning they learned how to fight with only their arms and legs to protect them. Before they were done Eragon thought that they were doing quite well and he felt exhilarated afterwards. Oromis did complain occasionally that it was barbaric to fight like this, but only to Eragon in his mind and always with a bit of laughter in his tone.

After they had stopped for dinner and had cleaned the sweat off of themselves they returned to learn more. The dragon decided that it was time for them to learn some of the basics about the elements. He would not teach them how to do actual magic with the elements, which was Sahkur-rahs specialty; he would just explain some of the fundamentals to them.

_The most important thing to know of the elements is that to call an actual elemental forward you have to use the elemental name in the ancient language._

_There are no elemental names in the ancient language _Oromis broke in _just the names for the elements, brisingr for fire, adurna for water, deloi for earth-_

_Pardon me but I was under the impression that I was the one teaching here_

_Yes well there are no elemental names in the ancient language_

_Yes I heard you the first time but there are and this is not a topic that is open to debate. Now as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, to call an elemental you must use the elemental name._ Oromis sat back clearly unhappy with being dismissed, and called rude. Eragon raised his hand as Eressmiss had told him to a few minutes into the early morning lesson when he had a question.

_Why must we use a different name for the elements when trying to use elemental magic?_

_Because you are not using a normal means of magic. The usual means that sorcerers use is to summon spirits to do their will, which is dangerous as you no doubt know Shadeslayer. How you approach magic is to use the energy within yourself or occasionally those around you to do magic. This also has the potential for great danger for yourself and those around you, though not as much as the sorcerers' way. This third way is to call on the elements of nature themselves, and to do that you cannot use the normal terms for them. What you see and summon when you use the term adurna is simply water, no more or less powerful than anything else. When you want elemental water, and not just the water from a stream you must use the word undine. This is the elemental water. It has all of the destructive and healing powers of creation. _

Eragon was silent a few moments before he raised his hand again.

_But isn't there danger if the elemental gets out of control?_

_Yes, of course there is, but that does not happen unless the person wishes it to happen. An elemental is not a spirit, it will never possess someone. It will never become exhausted or die because it has no limits to its potential. If an elemental is unleashed with no restrictions it depends on what its will is what will happen._

_Like a flood, or a forest fire?_

_Kind of but not exactly. Usually the land and elements are in harmony, but if something were to disrupt this harmony and twist the elements whether knowingly or unknowingly then there is discord. If an elemental is unleashed during a time of harmony the worst would be a mild forest fire or a slight monsoon. Maybe a small earthquake, and so on depending on the element. If there is something wrong with the land then the elementals will converge on the thing or individual that is causing the discord and there will be disasters and absolute chaos as the elementals try to get rid of what is hurting them. It is dangerous to set loose an elemental unless you know what it is that they will focus on, it could just as easily kill its summoner in the process of getting to what has hurt it._

_So what are its limitations?_

_It's limited by two things Oromis, Your imagination and the need for balance and harmony with all things. An elemental will not destroy another elemental; will not allow itself to be twisted to do so and will only destroy where discord already exists._

They were all quiet for a few minutes after that. Eragon knew what the implications of that meant. Were they to unleash an elemental now, then they would most likely set it on the kingdom of Galbatorix and destroy the capitol and everything in its way. This was a very powerful force they were talking about and it could very well even the odds, maybe tip them in their favor, but they would have to be careful with it. Even Oromis looked as if he were pondering the implications of this knowledge and how it would influence the war.

_Ahh, I see that that has gotten your attention. Now the names for the elementals are Undine for water, Infernia for fire, Gaia for earth, Iluminar for light, Thantas for lightening, and Duodins for air. You can say them now but nothing will happen, with training however you will be able to use this knowledge well._

_Do all the riders know this where you are from?_

_No Oromis they do not. Only the ones that will not be changed by the power are taught it. They all know _of_ it, but the ones who will be affected by it are not taught the names of the elementals. _

They spent the rest of the afternoon studying other things that he had not heard mention of before. Oromis seemed interested briefly but soon he clearly became restless. Eressmiss let them leave while there was still plenty of daylight left. While Eragon was walking away Oromis caught up with him. There was something on the elf's mind but Eragon was not exactly sure what. Oromis did not leave him in suspense for long.

"I have been thinking of moving my home. It seems to me that I have been isolated for too long."

"And this sudden realization would have nothing to do with the large green dragon that has decided to camp out there at nights?"

"No, of course not, not entirely anyway, I can always find someplace to go when I crave solitude."

"You know the house where I have been put up is really too large for just one person. Of course I'm used to living in small houses. If you want I could make an additional room for you to use."

"That is a generous offer but I want to look for myself for a while before I accept."

"The offer is there if you want to take me up on it."

"Thank you Eragon."

When Eragon finally returned to the Eyre he saw someone hovering outside of the wide opening that was meant for a dragon to fly through. He walked over and opened it and saw Sahkur-Rah flying just outside.

"You know you could just use the stairs?"

"What and go through all that work when it is easier and faster to fly?"

"True, so what is on your mind?" He asked as he stepped back and allowed her to fly in. It was the first time he had been able to look at her wings for an extended period of time up close. He was surprised that they were the same color as her skin; the only difference was that they were scaly.

"I have been looking over what information I was given about the Ra'zac and I find that I am missing some things."

"All right, what did you need to know?"

"Well how many of the pupae and adults have been seen? Knowing that would provide a clue as to how many there actually are."

"Two pupae and two adults that have been seen; How many do you suspect there are?"

"Two adults and two pupae?"

"Yes"

"That would make at least twenty pupae and ten adults."

Eragon sucked in his breath. He had not expected there to be that many.

"Please tell me that you are joking."

"Wish that I were, Shadeslayer. Don't worry; this is yet another good reason for you to learn elemental magic."

"But if there are thirty of the blasted things, and they are tough enough to harm even with magic how will we survive. And how exactly do you know this."

"For starters these things are smart, which is part of why they are so dangerous. Because they are smart they do not let it be widely known just how many there are of them. If there are only ten pupae only one might be seen at a time. If there are twenty pupae only two at most will be revealed. Usually one clutch of one adult contains two eggs. Usually the eggs do not become pupae until the other pupae are almost adults. So we can figure on at least thirty capable of defending themselves and twenty eggs."

"Twenty eggs; But there should only be ten because there have to be at least five males, One for each female."

"Actually the Ra'zac, when they reach adult hood, are hermaphrodites."

"What?"

"Hermaphrodites, they possess the sex organs of both genders."

"So that means"

"That they can both impregnate and become impregnated as well. The only other creature that is normally a fully functional hermaphrodite is the earth worm. At any rate this allows them to boost their numbers exponentially and the fact that they can hold several clutches of eggs without having to lay them means that they do not have to pause for mating for long stretches of time in order to shore up their numbers."

"Oh crap. How exactly are we supposed to live through this?"

"Elemental magic, like I said it is a good idea for you to learn it."

"And this will help us against thirty of those things how?"

"Because tough as they are to hurt with the magic that you have learned, they are nothing compared to the power that the elementals can unleash on them. Personally I say save the girl them roast them all with elemental fire in their den."

"But if there is another entrance?"

"There won't be. They are smart not creative and not good at planning for the unexpected. Another entrance would be too much work to defend and they will not be expecting anyone capable of using this kind of magic."

"But how did any escape from your land to get over here?"

"They most probably stowed away on a ship heading here."

"Oh, ok. I think I'm going to sit down now."

"Actually there is more than that that I wanted to discuss. I have been pondering the Dragon and rider that I have sensed that are being held against their will for some time now. They want to leave and get away from that king but they are unable to because of a strong binding oath that the king forced from them. I am thinking that this should be a two part mission. Save the girl and while we are at it release the rider and dragon."

"Well since we're talking about doing completely insane things why not throw in saving the last egg in Galbatorix vaults. After all if we're going to commit suicide lets be as spectacular about it as possible."

"That is an idea."

"You are insane, completely insane. It must be the elf in you."

"I beg your pardon but did you say that elves were insane." Eragon turned around and saw Oromis standing behind him.

"Not all elves Oromis but it must be the elf part of her that is insane because of what she is proposing we do."

"You are part elf?" Oromis asked with some interest.

"Actually ¼ elf, ¼ dwarf, ¼ dragon, and ¼ human."

"How did that happen? I am fairly certain that dragons are not capable of mating outside of their species and dwarfs and humans have a difficult enough time being in any relationship with an elf let alone one that could produce offspring."

"It is a very long and very boring story. At any rate Eragon was just questioning my sanity because of the general ideas that I have come up with to help me decide on the best course of action when we go after the Ra'zac."

"No I was objecting to what you propose we do afterwards."

"Oh you mean free the other rider and his dragon and rescue the last egg? Well then I can understand you questioning my sanity. Of course you didn't hear what I have in mind for a distraction."

"Do we want to hear?"

"You might not want to Oromis but you might as well know. I'm planning on releasing all six elementals on Galbatorix at once. If that doesn't keep him busy nothing will."

"But the city"

"Will be razed to the ground and Galbatorix will be temporarily a king without a throne until he finds a new place and that will make him very vulnerable for quite some time. Even when he does find a city to replace the one he lost he will not be as safe as he was before."

"But all the people"

"I will transport the ones that could be called innocent out of there first, but there will be very few of them." Oromis bit his lip as he thought the idea over and finally came to a decision.

"I wish that there was a better way of doing this but there is none. When will we be learning this Elemental magic?"

"When I am satisfied with the plan that has been devised, by the way Eressmiss was looking for you. He wants to know when you will be talking to him."

"Soon, I was just looking for another place to live."

"I am sorry; I don't think he meant to chase you out of house and home."

"He didn't"

"Right, I suppose elves usually uproot themselves and relocate where they live on a regular basis."

"No it's just that I suddenly wish to have some company."

"By the way a word of caution when learning from Eressmiss, He is not very patient with elves especially when they act bored all the time and interrupt. He takes an abnormal delight in charring their hair short."

"What?" Eragon could not fathom why he would char hair short as a punishment.

"Charring their hair short, I don't know about here but with the elves where I come from only children who misbehave have short hair and well, you get the idea."

Oromis looked somewhat taken aback by this news but he did not seem unduly alarmed.

"I will keep that in mind."

"Good, well I will be seeing you shortly. I have only a few more things to add before I am completely satisfied with this plan then I'll see if any of you have anything to add to it." With that Sahkur-rah flew out the tree house.

"She is different" Oromis remarked after she had flown well past earshot.

"Aye"

The next two days passed without much happening. They learned from Eressmiss in during the day and well before sun down he would let them leave. Oromis and Roran both moved into the tree house as Oromis did not find a place that he wanted to move into, and Roran had finally come to accept that he was a rider. He had started talking to the baby dragon at nights and had eventually decided that Silvress was a good name for him. Oromis seemed to chuckle about the name for a while but Eragon could not find out why. On the third day they were again practicing fighting without weapons. Oromis however was acting strange today, he would yawn loudly when Eressmiss was not looking and did not appear to want to do anything.

_Oromis, would you please stop acting like an immature child for a few moments._

_I don't know what you are talking about._

_You do very well know what I am talking about and you would do well to pay attention, foolish point ears._

_I am sorry it won't happen again._

_It had better not._

Eressmiss went back to instructing them as to how to block a sword blow with only their forearms when Oromis rolled his eyes. Eressmiss snorted, small gouts of fire came out of the one nostril.

_Eragon, Roran, Saphira, Glaedr, Silvress please return to your house for the rest of the day._

Roran appeared about to protest but Eragon could tell that Eressmiss was in a foul mood so he put his hand over his cousins mouth and dragged him back as fast as he could, Oromis seemed surprised that they were leaving. Eragon guessed that Eressmiss had not let him hear his instructions to the rest of them.

When they got to the tree house Eragon opened the dragons' entrance to allow the others in. Surprisingly enough they had discovered that Glaedr could fit inside the house. They soon flew inside, Glaedr looking somewhat worried.

_I should have stayed, who knows what that crazy dragon's going to do to him.  
Why didn't you?_

_He made me leave. I was flying towards Oromis to help him when a strong wind forced me back and Eressmiss told me to leave him there. What is he going to do to him?_

_He won't do anything horrible; at least I don't think that he would. _

They waited silently for Oromis to come back. They only had to wait an hour when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Before long a stench wafted up to them through the trapdoor.

"Hey what smells like burning hair?" Roran asked as the trapdoor was opened. Oromis came into the house, his once long silver white hair not reaching past his shoulders and burned golden brown almost to the root. He walked past them quietly and through the partition into his room. Eragon looked at Roran. His cousin appeared startled at the elf's appearance.

_Why did he char his hair short Eragon?_

_Oh boy. Could you stay out here while I check on him please?_

_Sure_

Eragon knocked on the wood frame of the door before he went inside. He heard Oromis say something quietly that sounded almost like come in. At least he took it to mean that. Eragon stepped in quietly and closed the door behind him. He saw Oromis sitting on his bed staring at the wall. He didn't turn when Eragon had entered. Eragon took the stool that was sitting by the wall and brought it over to sit by Oromis.

"That was supremely foolish of me" Oromis muttered when Eragon had sat down next to him. Eragon didn't respond. Oromis continued with his thoughts as if he hadn't paused.

"I just had to act like an adolescent child who doesn't see the danger right in front of him today because I was bored. Instead of acting like the adult I am supposed to be I went right ahead and angered a dragon who I knew enjoyed burning hair short."

"Yeah I have to ask when they healed you did they maybe unintentionally make you immature, because this isn't the only time that you have acted childish since they got here." Oromis looked at him with a great deal of anger but then forced himself to calm down.

"I deserved that. I have been acting childish. I have no idea what got into me today. I have no idea what has gotten into me at all. Maybe they did make me immature."

"Personally I like the way you deal with immaturity better that the way Eressmiss does. At least with you I don't have to worry about loosing my hair."

"Aye"

"I'd better trim that burned stuff off or else your hair will grow back funny." Eragon looked around for something to trim hair with. He eventually found the Elvin razor that he had never used in the bathroom. He picked it up and debated it for a moment. If only it weren't so sharp he could use it. He thought about it for a moment, burned hair was always brittle so it shouldn't take much to get the rest of it off, all he would have to do was dull the blade a little bit then he'd be able to use the razor. He thought about his word choice carefully and eventually decided on an appropriate wording. He muttered his spell and tested it on himself. It worked perfectly, it would not cut his flesh but it did cut his hair. He went back to Oromis' room where he sat down behind the elf and began to carefully trim the rest of the burned hair away. Oromis made no comments as Eragon worked. Eventually the burned hair was cut away. Oromis looked liked a shorn sheep except for his forelocks which were undamaged. Eragon tried to keep from laughing but he was only partially successful. Oromis heard his chuckle and Eragon practically heard him raise one of his eyebrows.

"So this amuses you Eragon finiarel? I suppose seeing that your grumpy old teacher is capable of acting twice the dunce that you could ever be would be amusing to most." Eragon heard him chuckle slightly as he said it. He busied himself by evening the ends of Oromis' hair so that he didn't look so ragged.

"Do you remember the first day I met you and you told me that you did not want me to look like a tree with half its leaves blown off?"

"Aye, I am old, not senile; although today I am apparently immature."

"Well you look like a tree with half its leaves blown off. I'm sorry I can't make this look any better."

"That's fine Eragon. I will live through this somehow. How I am going to explain this to anyone I don't know. Perhaps it would be for the best if I kept myself hidden away until my hair grows back."

"But that will take a long time, maybe you should wear a bag over your head, that way no one will see that your hair is gone."

"What a waste of a perfectly good bag. No I will simply have to get a couple of dozen birds to land on my head each day that way I can still maintain the illusion of hair."

"No offense but that will not fool anyone and if you upset Eressmiss again I don't think that the birds will appreciate being caught in the line of fire."

"Sure ruin my plans."

"At least I have my hair."

"At least I don't have to shave."

"At least I'm not crazy enough to make a dragon angry."

Oromis laughed. Eragon was glad that he managed to get him to laugh about his problem.

"Now are you going to act mature tomorrow or do I have to tie you up for fear that you will act like this again leaving Eressmiss no choice but to singe your eyebrows off as well?"

"You have nothing to fear about my behavior tomorrow. I will be an adult and not a child."

"Good." Eragon stood up to leave, before he could go however Oromis stopped him.

"Thank you. I am glad that you didn't allow me to wallow in my misery."

"I would never allow you to do that."

He left Oromis' room quietly and spent the rest of the night sparring with Roran.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: not mine, no money, yadda yadda yadda

The next several days were uneventful. They would wake up, go to learn and then be allowed to leave well before sundown. Oromis was subdued and did not go out at night with the other two, preferring to stay in the study until he went to bed. As the days passed his hair began to grow back. Eragon was surprised at how fast elf hair grew. It would be some time before it would be as long as it was before but it was longer than it would have been had it grown at the same rate as human hair. It was already just below his ears and it had been charred off only a couple of weeks ago. It was after Eressmiss had dismissed them that Eragon had found Oromis rummaging through one of the two crates of his belongings that he had yet to unpack.

"What are you looking for? Can I help?"

Oromis looked at him as if surprised that someone was there.

"Of course, I'm just looking for a fairth that I seem to have misplaced. It should be in one of these boxes. It's of a valley that I made sometime ago."

Eragon went to the other box and began to look. He had found a couple of fairths, one of a large golden dragon (he had no doubt that it was Glaedr), and one of a pretty elf female with black hair and large compassionate brown eyes. He had a feeling that this was of La'iddina. He put it to the side closest to Oromis then continued looking through the crate. Oromis picked up the fairth, Eragon looked at him discreetly. Oromis held it gently and smiled before he placed it on the floor next to him. Eragon returned to his task when he came across a fairth of a little elf boy with a petulant expression, and white hair that had been cropped short in an almost brush cut. Eragon looked at it more closely. The little boy had gray eyes.

"Oromis, is this you?"

Oromis looked up and peered at the fairth that Eragon handed to him. Eragon watched him blush slightly.

"I see that you have found the fairth that my father so lovingly made of me shortly after my fifth birthday. I had been so proud because I had managed to be good long enough for my hair to reach past my shoulders when I came across the scroll that my mother had been illustrating. I had only wanted to help but apparently they did not approve of my placing a rather elaborate mustache on one of the great historical kings that was being mentioned in the text."

"I thought that elves didn't have facial hair?"

"No but I had seen humans with mustaches like the one that I had drawn on the scroll and I was fascinated by them, I had thought that a mustache would improve the illustration that my mother was making."

Eragon tried not to laugh at the thought of Oromis doing anything as childlike as drawing a mustache on a portrait.

"Oh I see that this amuses you, please do not hold back for my sake. My pride has been wounded far worse beforethan by simply you laughing about past misdeeds. Just let it out so that we can continue on with our search." Eragon managed to get himself under control long enough to continue with his search for the fairth of the valley that they were looking for. Eventually Eragon could not resist any longer.

"To think that you were a mischief maker of a child when you were younger"

"I was not a mischief maker. I was merely helpful. It is hardly my fault that my helpfulness was not appreciated."

Eventually they found the fairth that Oromis had been looking for. It was a rather spectacular aerial view that must have been taken from the top of a large hill just at sunset. You could see the small town below in quite good detail. Eragon thought that it was a rather spectacular fairth. He was surprised that it was of Palancar valley about one hundred years ago. Before he left for the evening Oromis gave him the fairth of himself as a young child.

"Thank you Oromis elda."

"No thanks are required, but I will chop off your hair if you tell anyone the story behind it."

"Of course I won't tell. But it is a rather endearing story."

"Eragon" Oromis said with a warning tone in his voice "Please don't tell"

"I promise I won't tell"

"Good, now be off with you."

Eragon placed the fairth in his room before he left. He would find someplace to put it tomorrow.

The next day they went to the clearing just outside of Oromis' old hut when Eressmiss told them that they would be taught by Sahkur-Rah that day. She apparently had decided that it was time to teach them elemental magic. When she landed in front of them she took one look at Oromis and shook her head slightly but that was the only commentary that she made about the state of his hair. She instructed them to sit on the ground and then followed suit.

"I know that Eressmiss has told you the names of the elementals and the basics of how they function but not how to summon them. Before we start it is important for you to know that everyone has an elemental that they have an instinctual affinity for. For most people it is hard to determine what it is. For Riders it is simply a matter of deciding what elemental the color of the dragon is most closely associated with. For example I am bonded with Eressmiss, and his color is one that is associated most closely with elemental earth. Dark and medium greens, browns, and blacks are all earth elemental colors. Silvers, grays, and other gray heavy colors are associated with lightening. All medium and dark blues as well as blue heavy colors are associated with water. Whites' creams and beige are light. Reds, oranges, purples, and pinks are fire. Light blues, light greens and yellows are air. Saphiras color marks her as most closely tied to water, Silvress is lightening, and Glaedr is unusual in that his color appears to be a combination of orange and yellow giving him the color gold so he could be either fire or air or both."

"So because the dragons choose us then they felt an affinity for a certain elemental with us as well as our personality and that's why they hatched."

"That would be it, although I don't know what hatching has to do with it."

"Well the eggs are charmed so that the dragons will not hatch unless the one who is to be their rider holds them"

"Ahh, ok then. Where I am from the eggs hatch when they are supposed to and the dragons often do not choose who they will bond with until after hatching. Eressmiss was ten years oldwhen he chose to bond with me."

"Hmm"

"So to begin you must contact the elemental that you have an affinity for before you can contact any of the others. To do so you have to meditate and say the elementals name in your mind over and over with no intent or purpose behind it. Perhaps you should try air first Oromis. If that doesn't work then try fire. Please if you would start now."

Eragon closed his eyes and concentrated on the name undine, the water elemental. For the first long while nothing happened. Then Eragon felt something tug at his mind. He was startled and slipped out of the meditative trance slightly. He returned to the meditation and it took only a few more minutes for him to feel the same tugging on his mind. He did not pull away this time but went to the tugging. He felt himself immersed in a cool wet cocoon and felt a soft soothing gentleness on his skin. He felt himself immersed in something great and powerful. Something that was gentle and yet fiercely protective. He felt himself move forward and suddenly he was swimming. He was swimming fast, faster than any human had ever swam before. He was heading to a waterfall and yet felt no dread at going over. He picked up speed and then he was airborne, but he could not breathe. He felt himself falling fast to the cool waters some hundred feet below and felt no dread at landing. He sliced through the water with little resistance and little more than a ripple to mark his reentry. He swam to a place that was familiar to him where others of his kind were gathering. He swam and found a female of his kind. He felt himself being pulled up out of the river and into his own body.

When Eragon emerged from the trance he was panting slightly and felt exhausted, as if he had just traveled hundreds of miles. He noticed that it was dark out. He looked over at Roran and Oromis. Roran looked as if he had just returned from his trance but Oromis was still deep in his trance yet. Sahkur-rah signaled him to be quiet.

_He has just found his elemental. It Turns out Glaedr is a combination of air and fire. It is a little trickier to contact an elemental at first if there is more than one elemental that can be contacted. _

It took Oromis a couple of hours to return to them from wherever it was that his elemental took him. He was shaking slightly and looked somewhat dazed by it but he was never the less pleased with his accomplishment. Sahkur-Rah dismissed them and told them to return at the same time tomorrow.

The next several weeks passed and soon Silvress was large enough to fly. Roran had tried flying him without a saddle before either he or Oromis could tell him not to and he spent a couple of days walking bow-legged before Oromis took pity on him and healed him. Apparently most riders would make the same mistake the first time they tried to ride their Dragon. Most of their days were spent contacting the other elementals. Eragon did not share his experiences with the others and they did not share their experiences with him or each other. Roran seemed rejuvenated after he returned from his trances and Oromisoften seemed awed by whatever it was that he had witnessed. Eragon would sometimes reach out to feel his elemental flowing all around him. There were times he could make out snatches of conversation even though it was distorted by water. He often found himself wondering if it was the fish talking when he heard discussions but decided that that was not it. He had once seen an elf that he was certain was Arya bathing in the river. He had been both fascinated by her body and appalled that he would willingly invade another's privacy like that. Once he had been the powerful form of an otter as it played by a ship and had heard someone talking about a large attack happening somewhere. Another time he had been in a river running through Surdas capital when he heard someone talking about evacuating everyone to Ellesmera. He could not quite understand it but he was certain that he was hearing and seeing things as they happened while he was connected to his elemental. They eventually learned how to contact anyone anywhere by using the elementals. It was a simple enough logic behind it. The elements existed everywhere. There was no place where the elementals could not gain access to because of this. So long as they knew what they were looking for they could sense it no matter where they were. That was how Sahkur-rah had known about Oromis, after she had seen Eragon she looked for anyone else who was a rider that was not the king or his brother. To contact someone through an elemental they had to know who the person was that they were contacting. She could not sense just how many Ra'zacs there were though as they were all too much alike. Apparently they had a hive mind.

It was not much longer before she taught them to summon their elementals. Eragon had been very eager to learn this. When Oromis had summoned his for the first time he had tried to summon fire but it had very nearly burned his hair off; he then summoned air and was knocked off his feet by the gust of wind. Roran and Eragon had not laughed. Well Eragon had not. Roran did laugh long and loud and earned a glare for it. He did stop chuckling when he was almost fried by a bolt of elemental lightening though. They learned that Elementals were different in their difficulty. Fire was the most unpredictable and uncontrollable, air was only slightly less so both were difficult to summon, earth was a steady constant but difficult to summon, water was both steady and readily summoned, lightening was unpredictable but readily summoned, and light was a constant but difficult to summon. They eventually were able to summon their elementals with no mishap, even though Oromis 'accidentally' burned most of Rorans hair off one day while they were practicing.

_Eressmiss is a bad influence on you Oromis._ Eragon had said to him as he shaved off the rest of Rorans hair, it had been crisped to his skull.

_Yes I suppose he has been but if you tell anyone I will deny it._

Eragon finished shaving his cousins' head and rinsed the blade off. Roran was still sulking about having lost his hair when Sahkur-rah came in through the opening in the side of the tree. She looked at Roran and began laughing.

"I see that you have learned your lesson well Oromis, although burning the hair off of a human does not have quite the same effect as burning it off of an elf."

"I don't know what you are talking about; we were merely practicing summoning the elementals when I accidentally set Rorans hair on fire. Fortunately Eragon was able to put it out in time."

"Oh I see you 'accidentally' set Roran on fire."

"Yes, now what were you wishing to discuss?"

"I have decided to that now would be a good time to get your ideas for the plan of attack when we go after the Ra'zac and then attack the capital."

"Well let's hear the plan that you have so far"

"I had at first wondered how we were going to do this; that is until Roran found Silvress. Before if we were to attack the Ra'zac first how could we look after the girl and protect her and Roran from any armies that might have followed should news leak of their fall and also successfully free the rider his dragon and the egg. If we were to do the latter first where would Roran fit in and would we even be able to get the girl before the news reached the Ra'zac to kill her. However the problem has been solved rather well, now that Silvress is large enough to carry Roran and the young lady it will be simple enough to have them fly back here. We will attack the Ra'zac first and then we will continue on to the capital and free the rider and dragon and egg while Roran and the girl fly back here as fast as they can. You will have to summon the air elemental to make your flight faster. Now when we attack the Ra'zac I will lure as many out as I can and deal with them out in the daylight with the dragons while You, Oromis, Eragon and Roran, sneak in and free the girl. After you have gotten her outside the lair let me know and I will begin herding them back into the den. After you, Oromis and Eragon, have gotten Roran, Silvress and the girl to safety I want you to help make sure that there are no stragglers. Once they are in the lair we will all summon elemental fire and destroy them all. Once the adults and pupae are gone we will have to go in and manually destroy the eggs before they can hatch. Roran, once you have gotten the girl out of there I want no heroics from you. I want you to get on Silvress and summon the air elemental and fly back here with all possible haste. You will have to stay and look after her, and possibly get an elf to help heal her. You will not come after us at Uru'baen. Is that understood?"

"Yes but"

"No there will be no buts until I am finished speaking. Now then Eragon, Oromis, when we are just outside of the outskirts of the city we will set down and I will summon the elementals to transport the innocent away from the city, I would say that it would be best if they were taken here to Ellesmera as the majority will be children and I know that elves do enjoy children but I am talking from my own experiences. What do you think would the best place for them to be taken Oromis?"

"I think I agree with you but I will have to ask Islanzadi before we flood the forest with human children. There have been rumors recently of the Varden, the dwarves and all of Surda relocating to the forest and I just want to give them some notice that there will be children that need to be looked after."

"Very well, Now then after the innocent have been transported from the city I will release all of the elementals at once. I will take to the sky after to keep the king busy while the rest of you make haste to the dungeons where the rider and dragon are kept. You will have to explain to the dragon what is happening so that he will not panic when you knock the rider unconscious. This will be a necessity as I have been able to glean that the many oaths that this king has made him swear will prevent him from going with you and will make him actively try to stop you should he know. After that one of you and the dragons, not you Saphira as it is you that the king is after, will proceed to the vaults to get the egg. I think that all things considered it should be Oromis who accompanies Eressmiss the other dragon and Glaedr there. You will find the vault with the Dragons co-operation if he knows if he does not then it is simply a matter of using elemental magic to find the egg. While this is happening Eragon and Saphira will exit the building and leave the city with the other rider. As soon as they are clear they will begin their flight back to Ellesmera as well. When you have the egg Oromis tell me and I will cover all of your exits and wait for you to take to the air before I follow you. The elementals will be raging for several days before they begin to wane but I intend to cripple the king and his dragon very badly at least before I go. I will catch up with you here if not sooner. Once again, Oromis, Eragon, use the air elemental to aid you in your flight."

_I will not leave my rider alone_

_Fine then Eressmiss help cover the others escape but if I tell you to fly you will fly._

_Very well but I won't leave you unless it is a necessity._

"Now is there anything anyone would like to add to this plan."

"No I'm good with this."

"As am I"

"But why must I not go back to Uru'baen? I can fight"

"It is not a question of whether or not you can fight, it is a question of whether or not you should stay and look after the girl you have been pining away for. I think that you should because by the time that you return here and find someone to help tend her injuries we will be in the middle of the attack on Uru'baen and by the time you reach the capital we will already be here. Is this a sound enough reason?"

"Aye, I suppose"

"Very well then, I think we should get ready to do this in perhaps two weeks. We will have to decide on what provisions will be needed for this. We will have to eat on the fly as we will not be able to afford to land at any time save for a few hours at night to give the dragons rest. We will be able to rest on the dragons as they fly."

The next fortnight was spent getting ready for their mission; Oromis had talked to the queen about the children that would be occupying the forest soon. Surprisingly enough she seemed delighted by the thought of numerous children running around the forest. Eragon spent a great deal of time looking for foodstuffs that would not spoil and would require no preparation for their journey. Sahkur-rah had managed to procure him a sword so that he would not have to rely on just magic and unarmed fighting when they began fighting the Ra'zac. He was awed by the craftsmanship of the sword. It had a long square blade with various runes etched into the steel. It was brilliantly bright and caught and reflected the light like a prism. The hilt was bound in leather and had only one jewel, a large pearl, in the center on either side. It had cutting edges on either side of the blade and was as light as a feather. At first Eragon assumed that it would be broken easily but when he mentioned it to Sahkur-rah she took the sword from him and brought it down with force onto a nearby stone. The Stone split cleanly in two and the blade was not even slightly dulled by its encounter.

"Even where I am from the elves are very clever with steel and smith work. I was given this in case I found a fellow rider without a sword. I shall have to see about getting a sword for your cousin as he also needs one. If you want I can make the blade the same color as your dragon."

"I would like that a great deal."

"I thought so. She really is a lovely color." Sahkur-rah concentrated on the blade for a few moments before it changed to the color of Saphiras' scales. She then handed it back to him.

Almost two weeks later Roran was still grumbling about having to return to Ellesmera and not help them with their quest in the capital so Eragon also had to find an elf to help Roran heal Katrina as well as make sure that Roran didn't try to return to the capital. He eventually found Vanir who had become rather adept at healing spells. When Eragon explained his plight to the elf he gave him a rather mischievous smile.

"Aye, I'd be happy to help look after this Katrina and heal her wounds. I'll also look forward to keeping your cousin out of trouble."

"Thank you Vanir finiarel. Please don't permanently injure him though."

"Do not worry, Eragon vor, if I have to I'll lock him in the wash closet until you arrive."

"So you consider me a friend?"

"I was an ass to you and you put up with it and didn't give up when we sparred even though it would have been easier, and then you broke my arm because I was careless and didn't watch carefully what you were doing. I'd say that I'd consider you a friend."

"So I am a friend because I broke your arm? Sometimes I think that elves tend to be just as insane as humans."

"It is very possible. Of course we are better at being insane than humans and dwarves."

After the Fortnight was up they made sure that they had their supplies packed and ready to go. They had a long trip ahead of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: not mine not making money

They had flown almost nonstop for the last three days. They had only stopped briefly at nights when the Dragons became tired and hungry. During the nights they took turns sparring and keeping watch. During the day they would sleep on the dragons as they flew. They would eat while flying and while it was not comfortable trying to eat and drink while airborne it did save them a great deal of time. Eventually they were a less than an hours flight from the Helgrind. They set down and Sahkur-rah motioned them to gather close together.

"We should go the rest of the way shortly after daybreak in the morning. I want to wait until the sun is high overhead before we begin the attack. We should get a good sleep tonight before we fly the rest of the way tomorrow. I think it would be best if we didn't spar for the night as the noise might alert certain unsavory characters to our presence. Now you know what is expected of all of you?"

They nodded in affirmation of that.

"Good, Roran you will fly directly back to Ellesmera without complaint and stay there right."

Roran nodded.

"Say it out loud Stronghammer."

"Yes I know to go directly to Ellesmera and stay there."

"Good. There will be no room for arguing tomorrow. Let's get a good nights rest now. I'll take the last watch; the rest of you can decide who takes which watches."

They got up just at the crack of dawn the next day and ate quickly. They put on their armor and strapped on their swords. Sahkur-rah had managed to get some armor and what she called a war hammer for Roran. Roran needless to say, was quite pleased with it. Oromis passed around a small container of faelnirv that everyone took a swallow from. Roran gasped at his first taste of it.

"If humans could brew like this we would be drunk all the time."

_Then it's a good thing that you can't otherwise I'd never have hatched. I do not like drunkards._

Silvress spoke without venom in his voice but it was clear that he meant every word he said. They mounted their respective dragons and took to the air. When they could see the Helgrind just below them they landed a safe distance away. The dragons followed Sahkur-rah and Eressmiss to the lair while the others found a safe secluded spot to watch from. Sahkur-rah stood at the foot of the helgrind.

"Hello are there any overgrown insects inside this maggot filled termite pile, or have they all gone away in fear? Here I stand waiting for the fear inspiring Ra'zac and their addlebrained parents to come out and strike me down for being here and all I see are dust motes. I have seen more frightful things crawl out of a well than I have here."

There was movement at the top of the Helgrind, where the opening was supposed to be. Eragon Watched in horrified fascination as the first Ra'zac and lethrblaka came out the top and swooped down to her. Sahkur-rah laughed and sidestepped them easily.

"I ask for a challenge but I get a child and a brood mare. I want a challenge. Are all of your kind this pathetic?"

With a scream of rage the lethrblaka made another dive at her. Sahkur-rah rolled out of the way and brought her sword down on its neck. It glided a few feet more before it fell down headless. The Ra'zac that had been riding it made a shrill high pitched cry as it stood beside its fallen parent. There was a loud rumbling as Sahkur-rah swiftly decapitated the pupa. She turned in time to see the entire colony of ten adults and close to thirty pupae emerge from the helgrind. She laughed as they charged towards her. The dragons emerged from their hiding places and surrounded them, breaking the wings of the adults as they tried to fly away. It was shortly after the dragons came out of hiding that the others, Oromis, Roran and Eragon snuck up to the helgrind. They managed to get to the topmost entrance with their magic and then snuck into the dark dank smelly cave. Eragon summoned enough of the light element to light up the area around them as bright as day. They encountered little to not resistance in the cave as they traveled the steep ramp down to the bowels of the mountainous lair. They were rounding a bend when Roran yelled for Eragon and Oromis to get down. They did so and Roran brought his heavy war hammer down on the head of a newly hatched pupa. Its head split open with a sickening wet sound as it fell down. The rest of the journey to find Katrina was uneventful except when they found the bodies of Sloan and Birgit on the floor outside of a door at the very end of the pathway. Inside the room they found her, starving but whole and aware when the got to the very bottom of the stone formation. She couldn't help laughing and crying for joy that she was rescued. They covered her with a cloak and Roran gathered her up and they ran as fast as they could to the top of the formation; she fell asleep before they reached the opening. Silvress saw them at the opening and flew up to meet him, Eressmiss and Glaedr taking his place easily. Roran spared a glace at the other two before he took off.

"We'll meet you in Ellesmera, stay there and take care of her." Eragon had told him before Roran took off. Then he was gone traveling fast as the wind. Oromis and Eragon lowered themselves down the side of the helgrind as Sahkur-rah and the dragons began herding the creaturesback. There were a good dozen of the pupae and adults lying dead on the ground. They managed to fight them up to the steep side of the helgrind but with all of the adults wings broken there was no where for them to go. They had been backed into a corner. It only took a moment for them to summon the fire elemental and when they did it only took a few secondsto release it onto the Ra'zacs and burn them to ash. After that it was simple enough for them to go into to the helgrind and flush out the rest of the newly hatched pupae and destroy them. They then methodically went into every room and nook and cranny of the helgrind and destroyed the eggs that had yet to hatch. When it was done the sun had begun to set. They made camp in the gutted former lair of the Ra'zac and waited a few more days before they headed towards the capital.

When Roran arrived at the tree house a few days later he was pleased to see that there was an elf there with the necessary medical supplies already. He was glad because that meant that he wouldn't have to go wandering all over the forest looking for one. He knew that the others had wanted him to stay here and not get involved with the attack on the capital but he was going to go anyway and no one was going to stop him. This way he could be sure that Katrina was safe without having to go through a great deal of hassle. The elf introduced himself as Vanir and asked him to place Katrina on the nearby bed. Roran did and was about to go back to Silvress when the Elf stopped him by placing a large bowl in his arms.

"I need you to go and find enough high quality fungus to fill this bowl. It will be needed later."

"Look I am happy that you are here to help Katrina but I really have to be going now because the others will need me at the capital before long."

"I know all about the attack on the capital and I have been given specific orders to keep you from going there. Now if you would be as good as to not try and leave then it would make my life and my job much easier."

Roran was seeing red. They had gotten a babysitter for him. That was the last straw. Roran strode to the trapdoor and was about to open it and leave when he was picked up and tossed unceremoniously across the room away from the door. Silvress looked on in amusement.

"Now then I didn't think that you would be as foolish as it seemed that your cousin feared you would be but it seems his worries were correct. If you do not behave yourself I will have to follow though on my promise to lock you in the wash closet until they return."

Roran got up and charged the elf, swinging his war hammer in front of him. The elf dodged his blow with ease and plucked the hammer out of his hands. He then picked him up like a parent might pick up a misbehaving child and put him in the wash basin and filled it with cold water. He then left closing the door with a click and then blocking it.

"You will have to explain to your cousin why you had to be locked into the wash closet. I would rather not be the one to break the news to him that his cousin behaves like a child."

Roran pounded on the door and yelled himself hoarse to be let out. Even Silvress would not help him to get out. Roran grumbled for a while longer and then took a seat on the floor to wait for the return of the rest of the riders.

When they started out for Uru'baen they were just coming down from their victory over the Ra'zac. The return of the feeling of tension before a big battle was both welcomed and unwelcomed. They would soon be striking a major blow against Galbatorix and his kingdom and would ensure that from then on he would no longer have the advantage. It would be a glorious victory if they succeeded, but Eragon did not want to think what would happen if they were to fail. They had just set down outside of the outskirts of the city Uru'baen and had witnessed as Sahkur-rah had called on the elements to take the innocent from the city. Before long it was easy to see that the elementals had succeeded in their task. Sahkur-rah began to summon all of the elementals again. This time though when she had succeeded in summoning them she gave them no instructions, instead letting her hold on them go. Eragon was not sure what to expect at first but he soon realized the horrible powers that the elementals could summon as first a large tornado touched down and ignited and burned a path towards the city. Then soon after the earth began shaking and rolling like tidal waves. Eragon and the others took off into the air. The wind was abnormally still but then Eragon looked up and saw not just the one fiery tornado that he had seen but at least a dozen others ravaging the city. Then a storm broke loose drenching Eragon within seconds of it beginning with lightening striking down at one building in particular; the palace. The elemental storm continued to grow as he and Oromis glided slowly close to the ground. When they reached the city they saw that there was no need to fear being noticed. It was absolute pandemonium within the cities gates. The storm was unexpected and unnatural. The entire place was shaking like a tree caught in the wind. Eragon and Oromis managed to make their way to the castle and were soon within its walls. Eragon had chanced to look up and saw what appeared to be a large black dragon trying to evade a fiery tornado and something that looked like a human with wings. They made their way inside and every where they went there was chaos like what they had encountered outside. They managed to work their way down into the dungeons where there were several locked cells. Eragon opened his mind and looked for his brother; he soon found him and his dragon in a cell nearby. Oromis began talking to the dragon silently. When he had convinced the dragon that they were there to rescue him and Murtagh and get the last egg from the vaults Oromis signaled to Eragon to go ahead with the plan. Eragon opened the door expecting to find Murtagh in a richly furnished room. He instead found himself in a dingy little cell with Murtagh chained to the wall. There were fresh whip marks on his arms and legs. Eragon made his way over to him and tilted his head up. His eyes were open but unseeing. Whispering a few words of the ancient language he insured that Murtagh was asleep and would remain asleep until they got to Ellesmera. Eragon turned his attention to Thorn who was now being released by Oromis. The dragon took one look at him and spoke to him.

_Take good care of him. I want him in one piece when we get back._

_Aye, I will._

With that Eragon took his brother to Saphira and they made it out of the city and were well on their way back to Ellesmera leaving the ruins of Uru'baen behind them.

Oromis and the others followed Thorn to the vaults. While they were walking there Thorn was telling him what he knew of how Galbatorix was able to become stronger with each year. Oromis knew of such ways but they all required dark twisted magic's to do them. It seemed that he was using the life-force of an unborn child in order to increase his own strength. What race the child was Thorn did not know. Oromis was still pondering what the implications of this knowledge when they came to the vaults. It was an easy matter to knock the guards unconscious and open the door. Oromis strode into the room with the dragons fanning out looking for the egg. Oromis Found it in a glass tank filled with a strange looking liquid. Oromis muttered a few words and determined that it was an acidic material that would dissolve flesh on contact. He looked around and found a large decorative spoon made out of gold with precious jewels imbedded in the handle. It was clearly used for decoration but Oromis decided that it would suit his purposes well. He dipped the spoon into the tank and used it to lift the egg out. He muttered a few words and managed to get the remainder of the acid off of the egg before he handled it. He put it in his pouch and told the others that he had the egg. Glaedr was silent for a while. Oromis looked over to the corner where he was sitting and asked him what he was doing. He said that he was doing nothing but Oromis could tell that he was not telling the entire truth. He pressed the dragon, he knew that Glaedr usually didn't hide things from him unless he felt it to be necessary but he wanted to know. Glaedr told him he would tell him when they got back to Ellesmera. Glaedr walked out of the vault with something in his front left paw that he would not tell Oromis about. Oromis shrugged, contacted Sahkur-rah, and they took off through the glass ceiling, Oromis used his magic to keep the glass shards from cutting them to ribbons as they fled through the howling superstorm that Sahkur-rah had unleashed on the city.

Sahkur-rah was getting bored of playing cat and mouse with the king when Oromis told her that he had gotten the final egg. She was glad because it meant that she no longer had to hold back from engaging him in combat. She flew forwards as fast as she could and brandished her sword. She fought like a demon. She engaged the king in combat while he was trying to navigate the storm. He gave as good as he got though and it soon became clear that she was not going to get anywhere by fighting him. So she changed her tactics and attacked the dragon Shruikan, cleanly cleaving off his right foreleg in her first swipe. The king and Dragon both howled with shared pain as she sensed the others flee the city as fast as the wind could carry them. She felt Eressmiss fly up behind the king and blast him with fire. Sahkur-rah blasted the dragon from the front with fire. They then began to fight in sync. First Eressmiss would swipe with a talon or try to bit them, then Sahkur-rah would strike with her sword. Before long the king was in retreat, but not before Sahkur-rah chopped off one of his legs. They then flew after the others to Ellesmera.

When Eragon arrived at the Tree house he saw Katrinalaying asleep in bed whileVanir was holding the door to the wash closet closed.

"Let me guess, my cousin decided to act like an idiot right?"

"Actually I would say child but idiot works as well." From behind Vanir there came a muffled pounding sound as Roran banged on the door.

"Let me out of here."

"Better let him out Vanir, I can deal with him."

"I have no doubt; do you need me to work on that one?" Vanir indicated the unconscious Murtagh in his arms.

"Please, that would be a great help to me." Eragon gently moved his brother to a nearby bed as Vanir moved away from the door to the wash room. Roran came stumbling out a moment later looking very angry.

"A babysitter! You got me a babysitter!"

"If I hadn't you would be walking into a very nasty storm right about now and would probably get caught by Galbatorix and turned into his puppet."

"I don't' believe this! I am a rider too Eragon! You should respect me!"

"Respect is earned, not given" Vanir said coldly from where he was tending to Murtaghs'

injuries "Your cousin earned my respect after he proved that he was worthy of it, and I must say before he managed to prove he was worthy of it he conducted himself in a better manner than you do."

"And how do I prove myself worthy of respect oh wise and knowing elf" Roran mocked Vanir. Eragon took a couple of steps away from Roran as Vanir launched himself at Roran and dangled him out of the dragon entrance in the side of the house. Silvress kept a close eye on them without any real alarm. He had gotten to know Vanir well enough to know that he wouldn't do any permanent damage to him. Eragon went to Murtagh and continued to heal his wounds.

"A good place to start would be to stop acting like a simpering child." Vanir continued to scold Roran for the next couple of hours until he saw Glaedr and the other dragons flying towards the tree house. He tossed Roran inside and went back to work on Murtagh muttering under his breath about childish humans. When Glaedr flew inside it was obvious that he was carrying something in his claws. Oromis climbed down nimbly and set the last dragon egg on the table. It was a pure white egg. Oromis appeared to be arguing about something with the large dragon and finally it seemed that he won. Glaedr opened his claws up and showed Oromis. Oromis stood in shock for a few moments; Eragon wanting to know what he had seen looked over. It made him freeze in horror. In Glaedrs claws was what appeared to be a fetus that was stored in an odd looking container. From the shape that the features would have taken had it been allowed to develop to term it would have probably been an elf. Oromis was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Is… Is it alive?"

_It is faint but I can sense life within it._

_How can this be? It was over a hundred years ago and she looked as if she were still pregnant._

_Galbatorix used dark and twisted magic to preserve it in a state just before it was to be born. He managed to do so that the fetus could remain alive indefinitely. It was the source of his power. Now he no longer has that unnatural power. The child can be saved Oromis, it can live._

Oromis looked as pale as death as he walked outside of the tree house. He did not take any notice of Sahkur-rah as she flew in, bloody and bruised and flushed with victory.

* * *

Note: Elemental magic does not require energy, just concentration as the elementals themselves provide their own energy and have an inexaustable amount.

So what should be done with the fetus?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Do not own not making money

When Sahkur-rah flew into the tree house with Eressmiss close behind she saw Oromis leave. Something had clearly startled the elf beyond what he was capable of dealing with. She looked around and saw that Glaedr was holding a container that contained an unborn elf fetus. As she strode forwards she could feel the dark twisted magic rolling off it in waves. She sent a questioning thought to Glaedr.

_Whose is this?_

_I believe it to be Oromis'. His mate died before she could give birth to it, and he had been so distraught by her death and what he saw as his child's death that he did not examine her body closely. It was around then that he was captured by Galbatorix and was injured._

_Will he accept the child and raise it?_

_I believe that if he is given enough time to assimilate this knowledge he will. It is a great shock to him, for he believed the child to be dead for almost a century._

She turned to the others in the room. They all looked to be worried for Oromis, but unnerved by the child that Glaedr held. Only Eragon looked like he would be able to talk to the elf without risking life and limb. Sahkur-rah had noticed that Oromis had a great deal of affection for the young rider, possibly emotionally adopting him as a substitute for his child.

"Eragon go and talk to Oromis, see how he is. Tell him that the child can be rescued be he needs to be here for it."

Eragon didn't need to be told twice. He was down the stairs and running after Oromis before Sahkur-rah could blink. She had to tell Vanir twice to attend to the patients before he moved and Roran sat mutely by Katrinas' bed. Sahkur-rah set about determining how exactly the king had managed to trap this fetus and how the magic was sustaining it.

When Eragon found Oromis he had climbed high into the uppermost branches of a tree. He was sitting there staring at the sky. Eragon climbed up towards him but stopped a few branches down from where his mentor sat. He waited for him to speak; as he waited he pondered to himself how this was much like approaching a wounded dragon. Only it was not a dragon it was an elf, and while wounded it was not of the physical nature. It would take more than a spell of healing to close this wound. Eventually the elf acknowledged him, even if all he did was nod and move over slightly so that Eragon could sit beside him. Eragon took the invitation and climbed the rest of the way up to sit beside him. He had never really seen an elf this emotionallydistraught before. He had seen many emotions from elves before but not this soul shaken apprehension that Oromis was currently displaying. Eragon did the only thing he could think of for the elf. He put an arm across his shoulders and sat quietly without insisting that he talk. He had seen how worried parents got when their children went missing and their relief when they were found. He had never witnessed how a person would react if they had believed that their child was dead only to find out that they had been used as a power source. Eragon knew that this would be very hard for Oromis to come to terms with, He only hoped he could help him.

Eragon sat with Oromis in the tree fora long whilebefore he began speaking. He was quiet at first, almost like he was speaking to himself.

"How could this have happened? How is this even possible? My child died with her. But he didn't, Galbatorix took him from inside her. That must be how she died, having the child ripped from her. That would explain why they dropped her from so high up, it would obliterate any evidence that the child had been taken and would insure that I would not be able to notice the fetus' absence because the body would be too much of a wreck to tell. A fetus alone is not distinguishable from the parent in death except by visually looking and the body was so destroyed that there was no way to tell. It would explain why he sent her to me, so that I would be too angry to think before I acted. I went after him and he was laying in wait. It would explain why he had my magic damaged, so that I would not notice that the fetus was still alive. It would explain why he took my blood; he needed it to ensure the magic worked." His voice had been growing steadily louder as he spoke until it was a yell "That bastard took my son and used him to make himself stronger so that he could continue his misbegotten existence, I will take pleasure in ripping his intestines out and shoving them up his ass!"

Oromis leaped up quickly and moved down the tree faster than Eragon had seen him move. He rushed to keep up with him. He became winded as he made his way back to the tree house and ran up the stairs in Oromis' wake. When he got inside he found Oromis trying to get close to Glaedr but the dragon kept backing away. He saw that Sahkur-rah had the fetus on the table but was watching the elf warily. Even Vanir was giving him a wide birth. Roran looked on dumbfounded. The dragons were keeping themselves between Oromis and Glaedr. Saphira was the closest to the elf and she kept trying to make him back away. Oromis was not putting up with that though. He tried to use magic to push her away but he was too angry to concentrate enough to call on the elementals and too worked up to call on his own. He finally howled in frustration and brought his sword out. Saphira was startled but would not back away. He began swinging it at her, with his first swipe he would have cut her deeply had she not gotten out of the way in time but that was more than enough to shake Eragon out of his stunned trance and rush up behind Oromis and try to disarm him. He had just gotten his hand around the elf's sword handle when Oromis threw him away from him. When Eragon looked at his face he became truly frightened. There was nothing left there of the man that he had known and had learned from. He was no longer peaceful and he no longer looked like someone who could be patient. He had been replaced by a blood thirsty lunatic with nothing to give but hate and anger. Eragon was thankful that he had not taken off his sword as Oromis charged him with a yell. Eragon brought his sword up but left the sheath on. He did not want the elf to die. It was a shame that Oromis did not feel the same way at the moment. Somehow he managed to block Oromis' attacks without having to give ground or seriously damage him. It took almost two hours of barely surviving the enraged elf's attacks before he managed to yank his sword from him and send it flying into the wall on the other side of the room. Eragon lowered his sword and tried to calm him down. That was a mistake as Oromis took advantage of his temporarily lowered sword to charge him and begin beating him with his fists. Eventually Eragon managed to subdue him with his arms snaking under Oromis' and his hands holding onto the back of the elf's head. He tried to kick him so Eragon positioned his feet between his legs in such a way that he was incapable of moving them. The elf released a primal incomprehensible scream that began to dissolve into angry curses and eventually sobs as everything that happened and the implications began to set in. Vanir began to look after Katrina and Murtagh again and Roran helped him quietly. Sahkur-rah resumed her study of the fetus and the dragons slowly began to move about again. Saphira tentatively stepped forwards and when the elf made no indication that he noticed her she settled down behind Eragon. She began humming as Glaedr settled down in front of Oromis and nudged one of the elf's feet with his nose. Oromis still did not give any indication that he noticed anything that was happening. Eventually the sobs that had been shaking the elf's body subsided into heavy breathing eventually the elf relaxed as he fell asleep. Eragon was not interested in leaving the elf incase he were to wake up in a rage again so he took Oromis to his room and laid him in a comfortable position on his bed. He then sat beside him on the stool beside his bed. Before he let himself fall asleep he put a spell on the elf that would wake him before the elf woke up. Finally exhausted Eragon fell into a deep sleep until morning.

After the confrontation Roran felt as if he had been lucky that Vanir had not lost his mind the way that Oromis had. He could see why the elves home had been safe from Galbatorix's attacks so far. They were far stronger and faster than any human or dwarf could be and certainly capable of more damage than an urgal. It was as if he had been watching a nightmare when Eragon began fighting the elf. He knew that Eragon was a very capable fighter and had no need to be protected but when he saw the look on the elf's face when he turned to fight Eragon he felt his heart stop. He knew that the elf was going to kill Eragon if he had a chance. He had breathed easier when Eragon had gotten him into that hold but he had been scared shitless for his cousin. He only hoped that when the elf woke up that he had regained some semblance of sanity. He heard a noise from the direction of Katrina's bed. He turned to see his Katrina sit up slowly and blink her eyes.

"So it wasn't a dream. You came and rescued me after all."

"Did you doubt that I would?" he asked gently as he sat beside her on the bed. He stroked her cheek as if it was the most beautiful thing in existence at that moment, and to him it was. She held his hand to her face and smiled at him. He felt his heart speed up with that smile. He had always felt like he was soaring when she smiled at him like that.

"No I never did, but those ghastly things were enough to make me think that no one could rescue me. I am glad to be wrong." They sat and stared at each other for the longest time. Eventually they both stopped and turned blushing when Vanir began laughing at them.

"I would say to the two of you to get a room but the last thing the world needs is the offspring of an especially immature rider."

"Rider, but he's not the rider, the Ra'zac told me that Eragon was the rider."

"There is more than one rider now. Roran happens to be one, and I hope he is better than I think he is going to be." Katrina drew back from him slightly as she looked at him with an emotion that he had never seen on her face before. She was afraid. She pulled away from him. When he tried to hold one of her hands she pulled it out of his.

"Get away from me!"

"What's wrong Katrina?"

"Just get away from me!"

"But"

"Get away!"

He pulled back as she shakily got to her feet despite Vanir's many attempts to get her to lie back down. Eventually he got her to agree to let him carry her to the varden encampment where they could care for her. Roran watched helplessly as the elf picked her up and carried her away. All he could do was watch her and the elf's retreating forms as he took her away.

Sahkur-rah watched as the elf took the young human female away and she felt her heart ach at the pain she knew Roran to be in. The affection of some humans was as fickle as the wind, changing direction should anything sway them slightly. Others were as constant as the earth. There was always heart break when someone with fickle affections became involved with someone with constant affections. She definitely did not want to be in a relationship with someone as fickle as that girl was. She continued her study of the fetus and concluded that it could be brought to life but that she could not call on the elementals to do so. It was a dark and twisted magic that could not be dispelled except with equally as dark magic. She would need more energy than she herself had, possibly more than that which they all had. She shuddered to think how many lives Galbatorix had sacrificed so that he could have an everlasting supply of power. She was certain though that the ones she needed to draw energy from could get their energy from the elementals and she could use the energy that they gave her. Of course she would have to wait for the elf to return to sanity before she broached the subject again. She had not thought that he would lose it to the point of being in a killing frenzy like he had but then he had just found out that his unborn son had been used as a means to keep a hideously evil being alive. She had thought that Eragon would be able to keep him relatively sane but apparently she had misread the depth of his affection for him. Perhaps it was just limited to the affection a mentor would have for a favorite pupil. She placed the Fetus gently on the table and stood up to stretch. Roran was sitting by the table on the opposite side of the room rolling the white egg between his hands with a lost look on his face. She contemplated him for a moment. She went and sat down across from him. He looked up at her startled that she would sit in front of him.

"Don't give up; I've seen the same thing happen countless times before. The love of the riders' life abandons them in fear and then regrets this mistake and returns a couple of days later. Odds are she was just startled by this unexpected news and the fact that she had been used as rider bait. She will come around eventually."

"I hope so, but what if she doesn't?"

"Then she doesn't. It's not like you can make a person change their mind, even if they made their decisions for foolish reasons."

The trap door opened and Vanir came in. He looked at Roran for a moment before he plucked the egg out of his hand and set it on the table.

"Don't play with the eggs, and go and get some sleep. Things will most likely look better in the morning." Roran grumbled but stood up and walked to his room. Vanir sat in the chair that Roran had abandoned and looked at her in contemplative silence for a few moments.

"So what have you found out about the fetus, is it worth the display that we were witness to today or will it not survive?"

"It will take a great deal of energy but it will survive. I will have to use some extremely dark magic to wake it up but I will be able to if all of the riders and the dragons get energy from the elementals and give that energy to me. I do not want to know how many died for the kings' venture into aberrant magic but I can guess. I will need to sleep tonight. I hope that Oromis will be back to himself again when he wakes up."

"What was he trying to do to Glaedr?"

"He was trying to convince him to take him to Galbatorix so that he could torture him to death."

"Of all the elves that I know I had never thought it would be possible for him to go into a killing frenzy like that. I suppose what he learned would make anyone capable of it."

"Aye it would. Goodnight Vanir, you might want to get some sleep as well. The other rider is fine but I fear that Eragon may be in need of medical attention in the morning."

"Aye how he could manage to fight Oromis off without getting severely hurt I don not know. I will see you in the morning."

Sahkur-Rah waited until she saw Vanir collapse into the cot on the floor before she too fell asleep on the chair she was occupying. She did not notice the egg rocking.

Morning came too fast for Eragon. The first thing he noticed when he woke up was how much his muscles ached. His right leg was swollen at the ankle and his left shoulder was too painful to move. Eragon tried to stand but when he put any weight on the swollen ankle he cried out in pain as he collapsed nerveless on the floor. He waited for the pain to pass, when it had he was panting and breathing heavy, only then did he notice the increased pain in hisleft arm as he had landed on it. He tried to get up but he was too sore to do so. His voice had gone hoarse from the yelling so he couldn't call for help. He struggled to move to the door but he couldn't move without causing himself more pain. He stifled a sob of frustration as he found himself unable to move. That was when he noticed that Oromis was waking up. Eragon did not want to be seen as helpless incase the elf was still enraged but he could not move as well as he should have been able to. He managed to prop himself against the door and use the doorknob as a means to propel himself upwards. He was too exhausted to heal himself with magic and he could not concentrate well enough to summon an elemental. He bit his tongue until he tasted blood to keep himself from crying out with pain. When he was finally standing on his feet he saw Oromis waking up looking confused and disoriented. He looked up and saw Eragon standing by the door in obvious pain. He got up and walked over to him only to notice that he was backing away in fear.

"Eragon, what happened?"

"Don't you remember?"

"I remember that we had just come back from the raid on Uru'baen and that Glaedr had brought something with him. I had asked him what it was…Oh god-"

"Don't lose it again; I can not survive another bout of you trying to kill me."

"Oh god, I am so sorry Eragon, lay down." Oromis crossed the rest of the way to him and placed his uninjured arm over his shoulders. He led Eragon back to his bed where he laid him down and removed his tunic and boots to get a better look at his injuries. He began to heal him with magic. He began by healing his shoulder, apparently his fall had dislocated the shoulder, the muscles themselves were torn because of the exertion of fending off the elf's attack yesterday and the bone had become cracked. Oromis relocated his shoulder in one move that had been so painful that Eragon had screamed bloody murder. Oromis held him as his body shook from the pain of his shoulder being thrust back into place. Soon enough the pain began to subside enough for Oromis to begin healing the swelling and the torn muscles, strained tendons and broken bone. Eragon found the way that he moved his hand over the injured spot to be very soothing, he soon found himself nodding off to sleep as Oromis healed him.

Soon Oromis was done with Eragons shoulder and he passed his hand over the rest of his upper body looking for more injuries. He was thankful to find none. So he laid Eragon down on the bed in order to examine him for more injuries. He examined his right leg first and found that his upper thigh bone was cracked so he healed it quickly. The rest of his right leg, save for his ankle, was healthy. His right ankle was a mess. The tendons had been strained and one or two had snapped, the ankle bone itself was shattered, but not beyond repair, and his Achilles tendon was swollen. He repaired the damaged ankle and finished by examining his left leg. He only found a few bruises there. He was thankful that he had not caused more damage than that. He placed a sheet over top of Eragon and turned to go get some food for him when he woke up. He would be very hungry from the amount of energy that the exertion and pain had taken from him. When he turned around he found Vanir standing in the door way.

"I had heard screaming and I thought that you were not quite yourself yet. I came and saw that you were healing him. Is he all right now?"

"Yes he will be sleeping for a while yet, I was just about to get some food for when he wakes up."

"All right but only if you do not loose your mind when you go out there again."

"I won't, I have gotten over the worst of it now and I will be able to retain my sanity."

"Good. I would hate to have be the one to try and subdue you."

"Was I that horrible?"

"You scared Glaedr; I should think that should answer the question."

Vanir turned and left. Glaedr, was he all right, what about the other dragons? He remembered taking his sword out and swinging it at Saphira. Was she hurt? Oromis quickened his pace and looked for the dragons. He found them outside of the tree house basking in the sunshine. He looked at Saphira; he had not physically injured her at least. He would not have been able to forgive himself if he had maimed her. The other dragons were whole and unharmed, even Glaedr. He wanted to go to him and ask for forgiveness for his loss of sanity but he did not know how he would be received. He decided that it would be best to wait until the dragons had had some time to feel safe again before he approached them. He went and prepared a tray for Eragon and himself. He would take his outside of the tree house to eat if Eragon did not want his company. With how he had acted he would not blame him if Eragon did want him as far away from him as possible.

Vanir woke up the next morning to the sound of Eragon screaming in pain. He jumped out of bed and hurried towards the room that the sound originated from. He opened the door and saw Oromis setting Eragon on the bed before he removed his tunic and boots. He watched as Oromis healed him and as the young man fell asleep. He waited for Oromis to be done. When he had confirmed for himself that the other elf was indeed sane again he went back out into the dining area. He noticed that the egg had fallen on the floor. He retrieved it and set it back on the table. He walked out to get some breakfast for himself and his patient. He knew that the one called Murtagh would be awake later that day. He did not see the egg as it began rocking back and forth.

Murtagh slowly began to wake up. He was in unfamiliar surroundings. Perhaps the king had gotten tired of him and had killed him. He heard someone move and sit nearby him. He opened his eyes just a slit and saw what appeared to be a very attractively proportioned woman with wings sitting on a chair at the end of his bed. Of course it could just have been the fact that the king insisted that all of the attractive women that came to the castle were to go to his harem, which meant that they all went to his harem, while he hired the most grotesque looking women imaginable to 'service' his rider that made her seem attractive. Not that Murtagh took the women up on their offer. He found them to be good conversationalists and very intelligent but the idea of the diseases they might carry made it impossible for him to feel any desire. Murtagh opened his eyes and saw that the woman was indeed attractive and had large scaly dragon-like wings. Perhaps the king took one look at the wings and decided that she was not worth his attention, which struck him as odd since he raved on about dragons so much that Murtagh was half convinced that he'd try to impregnate Saphira himself. He shifted around on the bed a little then it struck him. He had thought a horrible thing about the king and he did not feel any need to hurt himself for it. The king must have killed him. He looked at the woman sitting at the end of the bed and decided something.

"You are an angel aren't you?"

The woman looked at him with startled large black eyes.

"I beg your pardon"

"That's the only thing that explains this. I am laying in a comfortable bed with a beautiful woman sitting at the end of it, this woman has wings and I think that the king must want to impregnate the dragon Saphira himself with the way he raves about them and I don't feel any need to hurt myself. The king would never willingly release me from my oaths so I must be dead and this must be heaven, but I don't know how I got here, and you must be an angel."

"Sorry to tell you but this is Ellesmera, you are in the riders' tree house, I am ¼ dragon and the king most probably believes that you are dead."

"Why would he believe that?"

"Because I created a superstorm that destroyed the city and one of the other riders made sure you were unconscious before you were moved. So he probably released you so that he would not wind up dead along with you." The woman looked at him and smiled brightly "I have never been called an angel before. I have been called many things, most of them unflattering, but I have never been called an angel before."

They sat talking for a while but Murtagh noticed that there was a steady clicking sound. He looked up, there was the white dragon egg sitting on the table rocking back and forth.

As he looked on in amazement the trap door opened and a tall white haired elf came in closely followed by a black haired elf. Both of the elves looked at the table to see the rocking egg. The white haired elf put down his tray of food onto a nearby table and took the other elf's tray and the instructed him to sit by the table with the rocking egg. The black haired elf looked too dumbstruck to do anything but obey. Eventually the egg hatched and a small white dragon tumbled out of the egg and onto the table. When the elf hesitantly brushed his hand over the hatchlings head the other elf took the trays of food and gave one to Murtagh. Murtagh asked the lady how he knew that the egg was hatching for the black haired elf, she answered by saying that he was the only one that was not a rider who had access to the egg.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: NO money not mine

Shortly after the white dragon egg hatched Sahkur-rah had everyone gather into the tree house. She needed to explain what was going to have to happen before they could revive the fetus. She waited until everyone was sitting in a circle before she began.

"Well the good news is that the fetus can be brought back, the bad news is that Galbatorix used such powerfully dark and twisted magic in order to do what he did that in order to break the spell equally dark magic will have to be used. I do not have enough energy alone to break this spell, however I can break it I will just need all of you to call on your elementals and receive energy from them and give that energy to me. I will not be able to receive elemental energy directly because of the twisted nature of this magic. If I were to use elemental magic then I would most likely wind up killing the fetus. I will have to age the fetus slightly in order to give it a better chance of thriving, which can be done before hand. The fetus was removed from its mother about two weeks before it should have been."

"If anyone should break the spell on the child why must it be you? Shouldn't the parent do this?"

"There are a couple of reasons why you should not do this Oromis, first of all I will have to have a blood sacrifice from two people, out of necessity neither of them can be the one to release the child. One of the people that I will need blood from will have to be the fetus' parent. So that rules you out to release the child. The other reason is that I am part dragon, and this kind of magic requires a great price from the caster in order for it to be undone. Because I am part dragon I will be shielded from this very unpleasant aspect for the most part. Elves humans and dwarfs have no immunity to this magic and would suffer horribly from the price that is exacted."

"What is the price that must be paid?"

"That is of no concern to you. I will be far better off than anyone else here."

"Will you need to be healed afterwards?"

"Yes but you will not be able to heal me. It is not a physical price that is paid but what can be called a spiritual price."

"How do you mean."

"To do this kind of magic costs the person a bit of their soul, to undo it will scar my soul but it would destroy anyone who is not part dragon."

"When is this to be done?"

"I should think that that will be up to Oromis. It is his child and it will be his life that will be changing because of this. When he feels ready to take on the responsibilities that will be required of him then we shall do this."

"I am ready to have my child now."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes I want this responsibility now."

"Very well, Oromis Roran and Eragon and your dragons should get ready to call on your elementals while I age the fetus a bit. It will take an hour at most. I will also need a small knife for later on."

Eragon sat down and concentrated calmly on his elemental water before he felt it contact him. It was an odd sensation, it was a being older than time. It was intelligent in its own way and was very perceptive. He felt it enter his mind, he let it. It explored what he had been doing for the last while and he felt its approval. He felt it brush against his most recent memories and he felt it pained with sympathy for the fetus and what the knowledge had driven Oromis to. He felt it examine the fetus and agree that what had to be done should be done. He felt it open up its never ending power to him so that it could be given to Sahkur-rah. Eventually Sahkur-rah told them that it was time to release the child.

She had them sit in a circle around her. Oromis was on his right with Glaedr between him and Oromis, Roran was on his left with Saphira between them, and Silvress was between Roran and Oromis. Before they began Sahkur-rah looked at Oromis.

"Before we begin I should know who else I must take blood from. The choice is up to you Oromis but it should be someone that you know you can trust with your child's welfare because there will be a bond between this person and your child somewhat akin to a parents bond with a child."

Oromis was silent in thought for some time. Eventually he looked up and sent a questioning thought to Eragon.

_Would you be willing to give your blood and have this bond?_

_You would not mind me having a bond with your child?_

_No I would not_

_Then I will be happy to do this_

"I choose Eragon for the other blood sacrifice."

Roran looked at Oromis oddly, as if he felt put out about something. Eragon could not tell what though but he was not given time to ponder as Sahkur-rah had begun undoing the spell. Eragon could feel the twisted magic as it was summoned; he began to freely give her the power that the elemental was giving to him. He felt it getting sucked up as if into a vacuum as Sahkur-rah continued to undo the spell that was placed around the fetus. Eragon felt a rip in the magic, he cried out in pain as the twisted magic began to tear at itself. He could see Sahkur-rah being surrounded by the black magic. As she continued her chant it coalesced around her. Eventually she grabbed the knife that had been laying by her side and signaled to them to hold out their hands.

"By the fathers blood life was given, by the fathers blood life was taken, by the fathers blood life is given again." She slashed Oromis' hand diagonally first one way and then the other in an x and then tilted it so that the blood was dripping over the container that held the unborn child. She then pulled Eragons hand closer so that she could cut it easier.

"By the mothers blood life was given, by the mothers' life and blood life was taken, by the others blood life is given again." Sahkur-rah repeated the motions that she had on Oromis and placed his hand with the dripping wound over the unborn child.

"By the blood and pain the sacrifice was made, by the blood and pain the sacrifice is unmade. Return this child to life from undeath. Return."

There was a great rushing sound as the dark spell undid itself. The container that held the child disappeared and there was an explosion of light. When Eragon could see again he saw the child on the floor. At first he thought that the spell had not worked but then the child twitched. It began to move. Finally it began to breath and with its first breath the child began crying. Oromis was there before Eragon could move and was holding the child in his arms and comforting him. He felt the child calm and sleep. Eragon did not understand why he felt the child's emotions at first but then he realized that it was because of the spell. He had been bonded with the child the way a parent would be but she had not told him what kind of parent. It would make sense that an elf parent would feel the child's emotions since they were capable of communicating with thoughts. It would also make sense for him to be bonded in the same way as an elf parent was because the child was an elf. Eragon stood up and noticed for the first time that Sahkur-rah was sitting in the corner shivering. This was unusual for her because she was normally so calm and well collected. Murtagh was sitting beside her with an arm over her shoulders. Eragon sat down beside them.

"Are you going to be all right?"

"Y-y-yes, I'll b-b-be f-fine. I'm just reacting to the soul scarring. I'll be cold for a while, until I heal from it."

"Its ok, I've got her. You should go and check on the others."

Eragon looked and saw Roran leave the tree house. He left after him determined to discover what had him upset.

"Roran, wait up." Roran increased his pace.

"Roran would you please slow down"

His pace quickened again. Eragon was getting impatient, he could out run Roran in two seconds and not feel winded but he would rather that he had slowed down on his own. So Eragon sent a thought to him.

_Roran will you please slow down_

_No_

_What has you so upset?_

_Nothing_

_No not nothing now will you tell me?_

_No_

_Roran_

But Roran had blocked him out. Eragon growled in frustration. He turned and headed back to the tree house to check on Oromis and the baby. He could tell that the child was getting hungry by now. What ever was bothering Roran he could work it out on his own.

After the spell had been done Oromis had for the briefest time thought that it had not worked until the child had started twitching and moving. He was by the child's side immediately and had picked it up to lull it into sleep. He had not put the child down since. He had been rather harsh to Roran when Roran had insisted that he be the one to make the other blood sacrifice because he would not listen. He had known Eragon far longer than he had Roran and he knew that he could trust Eragon with his child's life, he knew Roran well enough to be surprised by his occasional bouts of childishness. Yes according to humans Roran was a man but he was stubborn and occasionally childish. Eragon had been shouldering the burden of rebuilding the riders for so long that he rarely acted like a child anymore. Roran could not work up the nerve to tell him when he was being irrational or to try to stop him when he was doing something potentially dangerous, Eragon did. Eragon, because of his training, had sympathy for all life forms and would be less likely to react in anger to a child, Roran he felt afraid would. So he had chosen Eragon over Roran for the blood sacrifice. Oromis could tell that Eragon was coming back to the tree house. Oromis knew he would want to check on the child. That was something else that made him decide that Eragon was a better choice; he did not feel jealous or selfish at the thought of sharing his child with Eragon. He knew that Eragon would not take his child from him. He sat on the floor of his room and began to sing an extra room that would be attached to his room for the infant. Oromis heard Eragon step inside and he nodded his head for him to sit beside him. He gave the baby to Eragon to hold. Eragon took the child in his arms. Oromis could feel his delight and wonder with the sleeping child. Soon Eragon joined him in making an addition for the child.

_What are you going to call him?_

_I have not thought of anything to name a baby in so long I have almost forgotten what names are good for children_

_I think it goes without question that it should be elf._

_Yes, how about Yawinedee? _

_Sounds too much like yawn_

_Maybe Seraphint_

_I don't know, Orleun_

_Hmm no I knew someone called that and he was mean. Orlandeus_

_How about Orlando?_

_Yes that would be good. Orlando. _

Oromis took the child that Eragon held out for him as they continued working. He was pleased; he had his son Orlando with him and a good friend whom he could trust to help him raise him. Oromis was happier than he had been in a long time.

Murtagh was worried about the beautiful woman whom he had just learned was named Sahkur-rah. He was worried because she was so cold and yet he was pleased that he could help her. When he first met her he did not think it was possible that she would ever need help from anyone but he knew that he was wrong now because she needed his help and he felt both humble and pleased that he could be of help to her. He had helped her to the bed that he had woken up in and had covered her with as many blankets as he could find. He had then gotten some hot soup for her and was now lying next to her on top of the covers helping her eat it.He knew that she probably could eat it by herself but he had wanted to help her as much as possible and considering how cold she was it probably was best for her to stay under the covers. He had finally fed her all of the soup and was just starting to give her some of the hot liquid he had also gotten for her when she looked at him curiously.

"I wanted to ask you before but how can you see my wings?"

"Well I open my eyes and I saw them attached to your back."

"I mean I keep them disguised so that no one can see them unless I have to use them. To everyone else it looks like I don't have wings and when I do use them it looks like they are emerging from my back. But you can see past the magic I used, how?"

Murtagh had to consider the question for sometime, he finally came to the conclusion that he had no idea.

Roran was pissed off to say the least. He was older and more responsible that Eragon and yet that elf had chosen to trust Eragon over him with the well-being of his child. If the child wound up dead or worse than dead it would be Eragons fault and he would not be above saying 'I told you so.' Roran wandered through the forest. He was a rider just like Eragon; No not just like Eragon, he was better than Eragon, and yet he was overshadowed and ignored because of Eragon. The Elves loved his cousin because he was a rider, should they not also love him? But he was not even liked. The elves loved Eragon and ignored him. He was not amused. He broke a branch over his leg. He had been wandering for hours now. He had not noticed before but he had somehow wound up at the stone of broken eggs. He snorted. He had been so happy to find that dammed egg. He had thought that being a rider would be great but no, it wasn't. He should have left that egg where he had found it.

_Do you really regret having me for a dragon?_

_I'm not in the mood for talking Silvress._

_Doesn't matter _the dragon said calmly as he settled down beside Roran

_I am in the mood for talking_

_I won't listen_

_You can keep your cousins and the others out but you can not keep me out. Do you regret having me for a dragon?_

_Yes_

_Would you rather I had not hatched?_

_Yes, then I wouldn't have to have my faced rubbed in the fact that everyone likes Eragon better than me._

_Do you truly believe that that is the case?_

_Yes!_

_It's not. Oromis knows Eragon better than you and trusts him. Can you blame a parent for wanting only people they can trust around their child?_

_No but-_

_Eragon had to go through a lot before Vanir respected him, Vanir told me the entire story. He did not just get his respect he had to earn it. _

_So what it doesn't explain why Oromis trusts someone who is barely more than a child over an adult._

_To Oromis you are both children, he is a couple of centuries old. He chose the one he knows better and can trust better. Given time he will know and trust you but given your attitude lately it is no wonder that he would choose your brother. I have yet to see him throw a temper tantrum._ Silvress did not have any venom in his voice, he never did but he was serious.

_Would you like to see a tantrum, I could arrange that after all the king will be looking for a new rider and we could do just as well as that idiot Murtagh I imagine that they will throw one if I join up with the king._

_Are you crazy! _Silvress snarled in a voice of extreme anger _getting yourself enslaved to that maniac will prove nothing but what a moron you are. _

_But at least I could make you shut up._

_Fine be a child but know this, you go to that maniac you go alone, I will not lift a talon to help you. _Silvress turned to fly away but gave one last departing thought _you could have at least come up with a better name than Silvress for me. It is a horribly disgusting name that means bed wetter in the Dwarven language._

Before Roran had a chance to apologize the young dragon had taken off.

Roran sat down on the grass and cried. He had alienated the only person that had cared about him at the moment and had given him a name that meant bed wetter to add insult to injury.

Sahkur-rah felt warm and safe and content. She was still reacting to the scarring that her soul had received from undoing the dark magic but she felt better. Of course it could have something to do with having a healthy young man resting beside her on the bed that knew about her wings and was not disgusted by them as so many from her old land had been. She was resting at the moment, listening to his heart beating. She felt at peace and content. That was when Rorans dragon Silvress flew in the window. He was in a towering rage. Eressmiss and Glaedr both looked up.

_I need a fight. That idiot has me so angry that I feel as if I'll set fire to the first person who looks at me funny._

_Very well hatchling I'll spar with you in order to save the others from your anger_

_I am grateful for that Glaedr_

Soon the two dragons were out of the tree house engaged in a ferocious mock battle.

* * *

So what do you think, should Roran be an idiot and try to find the king or should he grow up? 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer not mine no money

Sorry about the length of time and shortness but i have been run off my feet in rl:) hopefully i'll get more time to update soon

Roran felt like an idiot. There was no way that he could feel otherwise. He had blocked out his brother, who was probably pissed about him acting like a child. He had most likely angered Oromis who had only been thinking about the welfare of his child. He had embarrassed himself in front of Vanir who had had to act like a babysitter for him because he just couldn't do what he was told. And to top it all off he had given his dragon a very badly chosen name and had then threatened to do something so stupid as to join the emperor thusly pissing off the only person who might actually give a rat's arse about him at the moment. He was an idiot. He was more than an idiot; he was the king of idiots. And now he was left alone to make his way back to the others and apologize for his poor behavior.

It was getting late and Eragon was worried about Roran. He had helped Oromis create a new room for the small child, who was currently asleep in his arms, and had helped to feed him change him and burp him. The baby snuggled deeper into his blanket as he slept. Oromis gently took the sleeping infant from him.

_Go find him; he will most likely need you by now._

_Are you sure, the last time I tried to talk to him he blocked me out._

_I am sure; he most likely just needed sometime to himself. Go we will be fine._

With that Oromis took the child to his room and shut the door silently behind him.

Eragon walked down to where the dragons were and asked Saphira and Silvress if they would help him find Roran. Saphira agreed but Silvress snorted and turned away. Eragon wondered what Roran had done to anger the silver dragon so, but decided to let one of them tell him rather than try to drag it out. Eragon and Saphira took to the sky and found him on his way back from the stone of broken eggs. Saphira landed beside him and Eragon jumped down and walked up to him. He looked wary of him for some reason but did not run.

"Roran, do you want a ride back?"

"No I don't need one; I'll be able to get back by myself."

"I didn't ask if you needed one I asked if you wanted one."

"Yeah I'd like one but you don't have to offer me one."

"No but I am still offering so do you want a ride?"

"Yeah sure" Eragon helped Roran up onto Saphiras' back and they road back to the tree house in silence most of the time. When they got there Roran looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn't quite make himself say it. He turned around and headed to his room but not before Eragon heard him mumble out a 'thank you brother'.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: not mine no money

It had been two weeks since Sahkur-rah had released the Elvin child from the dark curse that the king had put him in and the child's hair was already beginning to grow in. He had gained a healthy amount of weight and was unusually active, even for an elf baby. His hair was somewhat unusual for an elf as well. It was two toned,most elves only have one distinguishable hair color but the child had at least two. They had been outside for a walk when Eragon had noticed the odd coloration. The majority of his hair was black but there were two red streaks in his hair starting at the temples. Eragon had been the first to notice it and had asked Oromis if it was normal for elves to have hair like that but Oromis did not say anything. All that Eragon could pry out of him was that it was not normal and that he would rather that no one knew about it. Eragon was not certain how Oromis would keep the others from finding out, however he found out when Oromis colored the red streaks with charcoal from a burned tree making them as black as the rest of his hair. Oromis looked at Eragon and signaled him to be quiet about what had happened. Eragon did not know what was happening but he held his peace as he followed Oromis when he took the child back to the tree house. Oromis set the child gently into his room and then began packing his things quietly and quickly. Eragon stood in the doorway and stared. What was the elf up to now?

_Oromis what are you doing?_

_I need to find a secluded place again, I will stay in touch with you but I must not stay here or be reachable by anyone again at least not for twenty years._

_Why what's going on?_

_It is none of your concern young one, now please let me go in peace._

_The hell it's not my concern, incase you have forgotten I am bonded with the child; with your child. You are a good friend and teacher and I think of you as a father. Now will you please tell me what is going on?_

_It is long and complex and I must leave straight away, before the others come back from their explorations of Ellesmera. Hopefully they have not noticed the child's red streaks._

_Why don't I go with you, that way there will be two of us to take care of the child, and you won't have to put yourself at risk, I am assuming that you are at risk, to inform me of how you are. _

…

_well why not, I mean two stand better odds than one and you will be able to explain at length what is happening when we get somewhere safe. And Saphira and Glaedr will be able to carry both us and our things without difficulty._

_Very well, get packed quickly and quietly. We need to leave as soon as possible. I will explain all when we get to safety. _

_I will be done soon; all I have are my clothes weapons and the fairth you gave me._

Eragon was packed and ready to go within minutes and had gotten provisions for their travels, more than enough for at least half a year. He knew that the dragons could forage for themselves at least. When that was taken care of he signaled Saphira and Glaedr to come back to the tree house and not tell anyone about where they were going. They were soon in the air; they had decided to ride their own dragons until they were sure that they were not being followed, with most of the things being carried by Glaedr. Eragon didn't dare to ask the elf any questions about what was happening until they had settled down for rest the next night. Whatever the elf's reason for leaving the relative safety of his own kind and practically abandoning the others to fight the war by themselves Eragon knew that it would have to wait until they were in a place of safety.

They flew for most of the next several weeks, only stopping a couple of hours at night when they let the dragons rest. It took a great deal of time but eventually they had flown well past the edge of the forest and over what Eragon recognized as the remains of Carvahall. They were a long ways away from the other elves and the riders and the war, and still Oromis stayed quiet about what was going on. It had been about a month and a half from when they started out when they finally crossed the spine and Oromis seemed to relax somewhat. He still would not answer his questions about why it had been necessary to leave the home of the elves and abandon the war against the king but at least he seemed more relaxed somehow. They landed for the night on the beach in front of the sea that separated the mainland from the many islands dotting the coast. One of those islands had been the main sanctuary for the riders in days past. Eragon began trying to light some kindling for their fire while Oromis held Orlando and fed him some warmed milk. Eragon could hear the contended sucking noises the baby was making as he was being fed. By the time he had the fire blazing Oromis had fed burped and changed the infant who was curled up sleeping in his parents' arms. Eragon watched the child in contemplative silence as the vegetable broth cooked. He didn't know how but he was certain that all of this had something to do with the child somehow. He wondered how someone so small could cause so much trouble. He smelled the delicious odor of the broth as it cooked, he could tell that it was almost ready to eat. Eragon Soon dished some broth up for both himself and Oromis. He watched fascinated as the elf balanced the sleeping infant while he ate the meal. Eragon decided that he needed to know what was going on and tried to think of a good way to bring the subject up without it seeming suspicious. He decided that there was no way to do that so he decided that it would be best if he just came out and asked him. He cleared his throat as Oromis finished his meal.

"Oromis, I have to know why we had to leave Ellesmera, what is wrong, where are we going and why."

Oromis looked thoughtfully at Eragon for a few moments before he finally answered.

"The reason why we had to leave Ellesmera was because it was no longer safe for Orlando there. I can explain why later on but please just have a little patience with me while we travel. We are going to vroengard. It is possibly the only safe place for him right now."

"Why isn't it safe in Ellesmera for him anymore?"

"It isn't just Ellesmera, it is the entire Elvin nation that is no longer safe for him, to be more specific it is the royal bloodlines that are not safe and those who will answer to them and report all that they see to them. He is different and that is what makes it no longer safe for him. It is only I and all the elder riders from long ago who are dead now and the royal lines who know of this difference. That is why I had to leave with him. Otherwise he would not be safe."

Eragon sat in thoughtful silence for a while before he ventured to ask a question.

"What about the other riders, can't they be trusted?"

"I do not know and I would rather not take any risks with his life."

"Well after we have gotten to Vroengard I could ask them come and we could see if we can trust them. We can just say that we are scouting out a place since the tree house is getting crowded."

Oromis looked at the child in his arms for a while before he nodded.

"That would be acceptable but I will have to tell you everything before you contact them. It may be that once you know the truth that you will also wish to leave us."

They did not talk about Orlando for the next while until they arrived at the island stronghold of vroengard. It was still in good condition all things considered. It would have to be spruced up a bit but they would manage. It was nightfall and any improvements they would make would have to wait until daylight. Oromis found a safe area big enough for them and the dragons for the night. As Eragon made their supper he watched Oromis look after the child out of the corner of his eye. Oromis looked relieved that they were finally here after having left in a hurry so long ago. He seemed to let himself relax a bit as the barley and vegetable broth cooked. Eragon tried to think of what difference could be so profound that it would make the Elvin nation so unsafe for a baby. The elves loved children, all children not just their own. They were by and large a very tolerant race even if they tended to be short tempered. But Oromis would not have left unless there was a very good reason for him to do so. He would not fear for his child's safety unless he knew that the child was no longer safe. Eragon stirred the broth while these thoughts chased around in his head. There was something more to this than he had thought there was. He was suddenly, and not for the first time, glad that he had accompanied Oromis here. Oromis cleared his throat.

"I think that it is about time that I told you everything, perhaps we should eat first then I will tell you." They ate in silence and when they were finished Oromis sat back and stared into the fire as he thought of where to begin his explanation. Eragon knew that it was going to be a long one so he made himself as comfortable as he could.

"You of course know by now how the elves made a pact with the dragons in order to maintain the peace between the two races. This resulted in the elves sharing in the lives of dragons, making them immortal as well as strong and fast. It also gave all the elves some measure of magic, but an unexpected side effect of all of this was that once in great a while a child would be born with a great deal more of each of these qualities than would be normal. This child would also have a great deal other things different, things that could be easily hidden or explained away except for one. This child would be born without a true name. This child would eventually choose one for itself but the name it chooses would never have the power over it that everyone else's true name would have."

"But how is it possible to not have a true name?"

"It is something that no one understands. The ancient language has a name for everyone and everything, but this child would be born without a true name to describe it. It is something that none of the dragon riders were able to understand. Though it has been a great deal of time since the last one of this sort of elf was born, I was maybe ten when it happened. The child did not live to see her fifth birthday. Before her there had been maybethree elves born like this and all except the first one died before they had been ten. The first one had died at the age of one hundred. Every one of them had had suspicious circumstances surrounding their death but they had always been ignored or explained away by the members of the royal lines. The riders tried to save any child who was born like this but they could not keep them from the elves for long, and the parents more often than not would dismiss the misgivings that they expressed because they could not understand how any harm could come to their child from another elf. I did not understand why the royal lines would destroy children such as these until I became one of the elder riders and was told about them. It seems that the royal lines fear them."

* * *

Muwahaha! My very first semi cliffy, i guess anyways, so why do you think the royal lines might be afraid:) 


	11. very sorry

I apologise but I have run into some major obstacles recently and it does not appear that I will be able to work on my stories anytime soon, If you would like to take over one of my stories please e-mail me and tell me which one and I will email the story to you. I am once again very sorry for being unable to keep up my stories.


	12. Chapter 12

Berserker link has adopted Inheritance book three. Thank you very much Berserker, i can't wait to see where you take it:)


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